First things first, thank you so much for your wonderful comments and well wishes over the course of the past week. Ever since Chase decided to make his debut, I’ve felt such an outpouring of support and love from you guys and want you to know how much I appreciate your sweet words and congratulations. I am really looking forward to sharing this new part of our lives with all of you!
As I was reading and responding to your comments on Chase’s birth story this week, I noticed a bit of a pattern in some of your questions. Apparently Sadie is at the top of your minds and I wanted to type up a quick blog post to keep you guys in the loop and let you know how our favorite little lady is handling the newest addition to our family.
Let’s back up to their first meeting…
Ryan and I spent two nights in the hospital last week before leaving with Chase on Friday afternoon. My first thought when we arrived home? Sadie is GIANT!!! Holding a tiny newborn for 48+ hours somehow made our 38-pound pup look like Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Before Sadie met Chase for the first time, we had her sniff his receiving blanket to familiarize herself with his smell.
Sadie and Chase had their first meeting in our family room and I’m pretty sure Sadie was more hung up on the terrifying car seat that Chase was resting in than our baby. Ryan guarded Chase as Sadie approached him, unsure what to make of our new little baby.
Her initial reaction? Total indifference. It was quite the anticlimactic meeting!
Over the course of the past week, Sadie has spent most of her days watching Chase from afar.
She’ll come sniff him when I’m holding him in my arms and will now curl up beside me as I nurse him. (Progress!) She’s getting braver around Chase every day and more and more curious.
I cannot help but feel bad for Sadie because Chase is getting so much of my attention and cuddles, but part of me also feels like I’m probably projecting emotions onto her. I am trying my best to give her love and attention and whenever others are holding our baby, Sadie climbs onto my lap and I shower her with all the love I can until I’m back on baby duty.
Sadie is still getting a lot of attention and exercise (thanks, in large part, to Ryan and my mom) but I’m pretty positive she senses a dramatic change in her environment. Last night she had all of us laughing when she proceeded to take a bunch of toys out of her toy bin to try to coerce Ryan into playtime when he was cuddling with Chase.
Ryan and Chase…
Sadie and all the toys…
Sadie has been our main focus for seven and a half years and when I think about how much her world has changed over the course of the past week, I must give her a lot of credit. She and Chase are by no means BFFs (yet?) and Sadie is still apprehensive about her little brother right now, but I have noticed progress in her every day as she comes a little closer to our baby, sniffs him a little longer and watches over him with cautious curiosity.
I’m crossing my fingers and hoping Sadie will continue to adjust to life with Chase. In the meantime, we’re doing our best to show her that she’s still our favorite furry lady!
Question of the Afternoon
- I’d love to hear any words of wisdom from you guys if you’ve been through the baby + dog thing before. Please feel free to share your experiences below!
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You’ve had me crying such happy tears as I’ve read your updates over the past few days. I had a little boy 4 months ago and it brings back so many happy emotions to read what you are going through. The time really does go so fast! I think I wished away those newborn days, because they are HARD but now I look back so fondly on the time I got to spend with our little man during those times.
We have a German Shorthaired Pointer that reminds me a lot of your Sadie. She was very similar during my whole pregnancy and still to this day shows a lot of indifference to our son. I keep trying to tell her that they will be best friends once he’s eating solids!! I know it’s been a hard change for her. She’s 8 years old and has been the only focus for my husband (who had her the first 5 years by himself) and me. We laugh that she’s an old lady and very set in her routine so having this little one around has thrown a kink in it. But I’ll take indifference over her being mean any day.
My heart just melted seeing the picture of Chase looking up into Ryan’s eyes! So precious! I’m sure Sadie will be the best big sister and guard for Chase once she adjusts to him!
Ah! My 80 lbs chocolate lab had the same reaction when I brought my daughter home last summer. Fast forward a year and solid foods – the two are now fast friends! I actually worry that they are going to team up on me at dinner time 🙂 Keep up with the exercise and affection! It is definitely a change that dogs understand, but they eventually figure it out. Seeing my dog’s attention to my daughter and his concern about her as a part of our “pack” is really amazing!
My furbaby was close to 13 years old when I brought our little girl home. I felt so guilty because she was the centre of my world for so long! I cried uncontrollably right away when she met me at the door. Darn hormones. lol
Our girl is now two and I think they like each other but most of the time they ignore each other! 🙂
Goodluck!
Chase is so tiny, sweet and beautiful! Congrats!
Happy for you guys.
Chase is just so precious!! Our three shepherd mixes were a little wary of our daughter at first, but now I can put her in her swing and they all crowd around her to lick and sniff, and she’ll reach up and pat their noses, it’s priceless! I’m sure Sadie will come around and be a great big sister!!
I wouldn’t worry too much! Our dog Chipper was used to lots of love before our daughter was born. After we brought her home for a while it was like she didn’t exist to him except when he wanted to sniff her head every once in a while. After a while (when she started crawling/moving around/taking real control of the house with all her toys haha) the ignoring turned to annoyance and I could tell that (dare I say it) he visibly didn’t like her, even growled once or twice. We made sure to be firm with Chipper and let him know he couldn’t act in that way. Now they are the best of friends, Sawyer lays on him, plays with his ears, touches and laughs at his teeth, pets him, and he just lays there and takes it all. Always following after her for more cuddles when she moves on to another task. May take Sadie a little while to get used to Chase, but I think they will end up being pretty close 🙂
Awww I bet Sadie will adjust just fine. It may be a shock at first but I bet you will be able to capture a ton of adorable pictures between the two once Sadie gets adjusted!
Our dog acted the same way when we brought our little lady home a month ago. Now she can’t help but to give her a sniff and a lick whenever she walks pasts her. She also alerts us when she’s crying (like we can’t hear her…lol) and sleeps in front of her crib.
Congrats to your family!!
I cant get over Chase’s gorgeous blond hair!! He is so precious – and I know he will have a great protector in Sadie!
Congratulations! My dog was pretty indifferent when we brought our baby home too…the trouble came when she started crawling and climbing and grabbing. At one point my usually gentle dog snapped at her 🙁 We brought in a trainer immediately and it was well worth it!! She taught us how to look out for her “I’m done with this thing” signals, and also broke the news that couch and bed were now off limits to our pup. It was a tough adjustment, but they’re so good together now! Just the other day the baby (now toddler…gulp) was grabbing at her tail and we were just about to scoop her up when the dog turned around and licked her. Success! So I guess my advice is just to always keep an eye out – as gentle and loving as Sadie is with you guys, she is still an animal and you never know how she’s going to act (something I scoffed at when people said it to me when I was pregnant, but your whole world view shifts when you have a tiny person to take care of!) Good luck with the newest addition to your family!!
From an animal shelter employee: You hired a good trainer! What you’re referring to are called Calming Signals, and yes learn them and pay attention! It will make such a difference in the whole family’s relationship with Sadie and respecting both hers and your children’s needs. It will help prevent the preventable. So often you hear “the dog bit/snapped/etc etc out of nowhere” but that rarely happens. What happens is we don’t know or don’t see the myriad of signals our dogs give to let us know they’ve had enough, don’t want to interact, or want space. Lili Chin does some fantastic illustrations: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lilita/5652847156/sizes/l/ and you can find more general information here: http://www.pet360.com/dog/behavior-and-training/calming-signals-in-dogs-and-how-we-can-use-them/_RUS-yjVgkmZlZZv0o9Jug?intcid=AR17
Awww, these photos are TOO SWEET! At 35 weeks, my little (big) lady already weighs more than Chase does now. Or so the scans say. Lord help me! LOL. I think Sadie and Ryan will get to BFF status with time. 🙂
My dog reacted similar to they way Sadie did. It took her about a month to get fully used to the idea of another “baby” in the house. But then she wanted to be around Wyatt all the time. Some dogs need time to warm up 🙂
Super cute! I’m sure she’ll warm up and be super protective of him soon enough.
Our dogs also reacted similarly to Sadie. My only suggestion would be that giving her love will take effort. Just like your relationship with your husband in the coming months, everything may seem like it takes a little more effort and thought. Things will fall into place.
My dog acted the same way, I was in tears many times a day because of it. Fast forward to three years later and they are the best of friends, totally inseparable.
I am in love with your journey and your new little family! I have been reading for years and cannot lie was very curious about Sadie as well. You are so blessed and I can’t wait to watch your new life unfold!
Thank you, Tayler!!
this post was so sweet 🙂 i just can’t get over how adorable (and tiny!) chase is. i’m sure chase and sadie will grow to be BFFs as he gets older.
The photo of Sadie and.your dad made.me.snort with laughter…
Cannot wait for Leslie and Ross and your mom to.be in photos too!!
Love you all..
Love this! Sadie will warm up to Chase – promise. My vizsla, Jax, was the same when I brought Madison home. He just sniffed her and was not really into her. Whenever she would cry he would leave the room. But each month he got more and more interested in her, and the same for Madison. Now she is obsessed with him! Jax is her favorite person. She gets so excited when she sees him coming into the room. Forget mom it’s all about Jax 🙂 I love it though. Sadie and Chase will be best buds! xo
Just continue to give Sadie as much attention and love as you all can. She will be just fine. Chase is precious!
Chase is so beautiful! Congratulations! Our dog, Mya, was fairly similar to Sadie, very unsure at first. She looked to us as if she were asking for our permission to smell the baby at first and was timid about it. Now that our daughter is almost 16 months old (oh, man, not sure how that happened so fast?!?) Mya is both happier and crankier. Happier because toddlers drop a lot of food (sometimes on purpose, knowing Mya is nearby) and crankier because our daughter is still learning the limits of when Mya needs to be left alone. Today our daughter started giving Mya kisses and my heart pretty much exploded with the cuteness. Just keep reinforcing the boundaries and rules for both dog and kiddo, trying to give Sadie attention too, and they’ll be fine! Sounds like you’re doing a great job so far!
We had our baby on Friday and have left our dog at my mums for now. We dont feel comfortable as new parents just yet and want a routine. We also want to keep baby and dog seperate even once she comes home if we can to be on the safe side. For now she comes for play dates during the day and we slowly introduce her to smells and such relating to baby. We also get a few hours fussing over her.
Hopefully we’ll feel more confident soon and have her home.
Congrats on your new arrival 🙂 i followed your whole pregnancy journey as i was a week behind you and it helped me prepare so much. We had a little boy too and we are just so in love its hard to put in to words xx
i have no advice when it comes to animals and adjusting etc but can I just say that picture of Ryan and Chase is just so beautifulxxxx
Ok, the pic of your husband making the kissy-face at your son is TOO CUTE! Congrats from California!