Dog vs. Baby

Maybe I shouldn't say 'versus.' I should just say that we have a dog. Well, a puppy really, named Chandler. He's a one-year-old, very needy, exceptionally energetic weimaraner who gets very very upset, anxious and loud when he perceives there to be a party going on that he is not invited to. The vet says that he'll likely calm down in another year or so, but in the mean time his daily rituals include running full speed and jumping on whoever is closest to him (he thinks this is hilarious). So imagine my chagrin, when after a year of trying to break the dog of what everyone else thinks is hilarious, I'm home alone one night and he takes a running jump straight at my stomach, knocking me over (btw, this puppy now weighs about 70 pounds and is expected to top off at 90). I can just imagine this happening when I'm holding the baby, only it would end with more Chandler-chasing, yelling and perhaps a tear or two (from both the holder and the baby, now dropped on her head).

Then there's the noise issue. Currently, Chandler is crated at night to keep him out of trouble, in Doug's office at the end of the hall. Since he's got ears like (some animal that has exceptionally good hearing), if you stir in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, or often in my case - get up at 4am to catch an early flight, a series of sounds start coming from his crate to let you know that he knows you're up and expects to be let out and played with immediately. It generally starts with the a loud thumping of his tail against the crate, happily wagging at the thought of 4am play time. And it's followed by barking, crying and the most torturous wailing you've ever heard if he's not let out shortly. I've seriously wondered if there's some type of angry elf torturing him Guantanamo style before dawn. It's excruciating. 

Now imagine this fun little scenario. Chandler goes to bed at 11pm. Around 1am, baby wakes up and starts crying. We get up to feed her and Chandler hears noise. What does he do? Starts vociferously announcing his presence to all in the house. Eventually, we get the baby back to sleep around 1am, but the dog is now wide awake. If we ignore the noise in hopes of him giving up and going back to bed, he welps and cries until the baby wakes back up again. Baby wakes up Chandler. Chandler wakes up baby. Doug and Elizabeth never sleep. Ever. Again. 

To be clear, we're not contemplating doing away with puppy. But I'm very interested to see how this plays out. I'm already having nightmares.