An Unexpected Protector

Before Maddie came into our life, our dog Lacey was a bit spoiled. Our dog went everywhere that we went. She was the center of our shared world. So when Maddie was born, Lacey had a culture shock.

There was actually a conversation that Nicole and I had before Maddie was born. Our dog did not react well in the past to children. Our dog wasn’t mean or aggressive, she just got very protective of Nicole and myself. If a child had our attention, our dog would wiggle her way physically in between us. Secretly, Nicole and I had created a plan in case our dog was not a good match with our brand new child.

Things did not start off well. We didn’t see our dog much when we brought Maddie home. Our dog refused to be in the same room as Maddie the first week. To be honest, I’m not sure Nicole and I wanted to be in the same room as Maddie. Maddie had colic, so if she was up, she would cry.

This strategy did not work well for our dog. Much to her dismay, Nicole and I didn’t follow her on her walk out protest. So the next thing our dog would do is throw herself on the floor and sigh really loudly. Our dog got a laugh from us, but we kept the baby.

Slowly things would change. Lacey would sit on the other side of the baby, but not too close. Day by day Lacey slowly got closer and closer to Maddie. It seemed as if our dog was warming up to the newest addition of our household. It all culminated one day, when Lacey got too close, and Maddie got ahold of the dog’s ear. There was no reaction from our dog Lacey.

After this day, the dog and Maddie seemed to form a bond. Now our dog wouldn’t go out of her way to see Maddie, but didn’t mind if Maddie was close by. As Maddie started to move more and more, the two would interact. Maddie would pull, bite, and drool on the dog. It seemed as if the dog sensed that Maddie was to be handled with care. Our dog would just lay there and take whatever Maddie wanted to dish out.

A couple of months ago things took a turn. It was a Maddie and daddy weekend. I woke up to the dog whining. As I woke up, I heard the baby making noise too. I got up and opened the door to Maddie’s room. The dog shot past my legs and got to Maddies crib. The dog sniffed and whined as Maddie rolled around in the crib. I got Maddie out and took her to the living room. Lacey was circling my legs as we walked down the hallway. As soon as I set Maddie on the ground, Lacey sniffed her up and down. Once Maddie let out a laugh, our dog was satisfied and walked back down the hallway and went to sleep. Lacey wanted to make sure Maddie was okay.

Another sign that Lacey has welcomed Maddie into the tribe happened over Memorial Day weekend. Just like most dogs, fireworks are a major stressor on our pup. Lacey usually starts shaking, and hides underneath the covers in our bedroom. So as the fireworks started, I let Lacey into our bedroom. Nicole was already in bed, so I figured Lacey would cuddle up to her. I shut the door, but five minutes later I hear the high pitch whining of our dog.

I opened the bedroom door and Lacey came sprinting out. She stopped at Maddie’s bedroom door and sat directly in front of it. Lacey was shaking in fear, but wanted me to get Maddie. In our dog’s grand scheme, all four of us would hunker down together. I could not get our dog to move from Maddie’s doorway. Lacey sat there, full of fear during the 45 minutes of fireworks. Only after the fireworks ended, did Lacey move from that doorway. Looks like Maddie gained an unlikely protector.

- Written by Adam Birchmeier