Friday, May 1, 2009

Baby Love

Ivy's baby-centric blog reminded me about this baby I've been meaning to blog about!  No, this is not an "I'm pregnant!" announcement (seriously, everyone is pregnant right now, right?).  There's a couple in my agility class who have the most adorable baby they bring with them to class every week.  I bad at guessing baby ages, but she's just starting to talk (as in, mumble unintelligible words) and she can't walk yet, if that helps.  This little girl loves Theo.  Seriously, she cannot get enough of him.  Out of the 10 or so dogs in class, including her own two dogs, she only has eyes for Theo.  She likes to yell "Doggie!" and reach her arms out to Theo with a big fat smile on her face. It's the most precious thing ever.  

Of course, Theo loves babies right back.  If he sees a stroller while we're out walking, he will do nothing but stare until the kid inside is out of site.  Even when he was a nippy little puppy, he was always so gentle with kids.  He's not usually satisfied until their faces are properly covered with a coating of his protective doggy slobber, including meeting after meeting with the baby in my agility class.   Her mother will always set her down to say hello to Theo, and Theo always proceeds to cover her with kisses.  I always expect her to start freaking out and crying because the big furry beast is trying to eat her, but this kid has no fear!  She always just laughs and smiles and tries to turn her head away (the way most dog lovers tend to react to kisses).  A dog person this kid will certainly be.

How are your Corgis with kids?  I'm curious what Theo's reaction will be when we start having our own kids.  Will it be a wonderful joy, or just another intruder?  Hehe.

9 comments:

betty said...

Koda's cool about kids if they don't get in his face but if they rush him too quickly and pound on him instead of gently pet him, he gets a little "wild eyed" and I know to get him away from them. Because he's only been around older kids and adults, I think he is more comfortable with them. I've gotten to the point of telling young kids at the park they can't pet him when they ask because I just don't want him to bite them because they are rough with him and then we'll be liable. The parents look at me like I'm crazy when I tell the kids "no" but in my eyes, for Koda, better safe than sorry.

We had a Samoyed once that was great with kids. They could climb over him, be in his dog house, pet him when eating, etc and he just rolled with the punches

I think whenever you have a baby, there will be a bit of jealousy from Theo since he won't be "top dog" but I bet he'll be a great protector of him/her. I know there's a lot of great advice out there on how to acclimate the dog to the baby

enjoy the weekend :)

betty

Cathy Santarsiero, "The Christmas Corgi" said...

Mine are great with kids. Bridget can get a bit overly excited however and jump and slobber kisses upon kisses which can be overwhelming. My eldest Corgi has always been wonderful with children. I remember one July 4th years ago we were all walking back from the fireworks display. Yes, this Corgi was completely used to fireworks, fire sirens (my husband's volunteer fire dept) and loud noises. While walking back, out of nowhere a boy about 12 came and grabbed her by the neck and roughly started to pet her. Rather than react in surprise, she looked up at him and rolled over on her back. His mother was running over after him, trying to catch up to apologize. It turned out that he was severly mentally disabled. It was like Bailey (my Corgi) knew it. She'll be 13 in Oct. and has a little arthritis in her front paws and can be a bit of a grouch when it flares up so I would probably ask unfamiliar children to ask me before petting her so I could show them how to properly approach a dog. She would never bite anyone, but she could scare them if she were touched in a sensitive area and yelped or pulled away quickly.

Bill Murphy said...

This is so typicaly "Corgi", they are great dogs.

Kelly said...

Gibson lovves kids, but he has had a problem getting too excited with them. He always wants to lick their face but that scares some of the younger kids we've come across. He actually made this little boy cry the other day when he jumped up to kiss him...but since then he seems to be a little more gentle and lets the kids say hi to him instead of the other way :)

JuLo said...

Theo tends to get a little overexcited with older kids. I've seen him freak a couple of kids out by trying to jump on their heads. But with babies, he knows to be very gentle. It's incredible. I still thought this little girl would be scared, but she was obviously very used to dogs and very brave. Hehe.

Cathy, I had a similar experience with Theo and a mentally disabled boy. He loves dogs, so his mother takes him to the dog park sometimes. He can be pretty rough, and in your face, but when he get a hold of Theo, Theo will just look to me pleadingly to save him. Hehe. One time he even picked him up and started walking away with him! Oh man I thought Theo was going to start crying. He's a very patient dog.

dreameyce said...

We have 2 Cardigans, and a 4 year old daughter. The dogs all swear kidlet walks on water, and then floats up to heaven to bring back treats daily. They love her!

They've also been really good with visiting kids, just as tolerant with kiddo friends, as they are their own kid!

Ivy@PaperElixir said...

Ooh, it's so great to hear how everyone's corgi is so great with kids! It gives us hope w/ Bryson, who has been curious but not exactly chummy with kids/babies... :( He's mostly scared of toddlers (or really anything that breathes) that move too fast towards him. At least our baby won't be "mobile" for a while so hopefully that'll give him some time to adapt :)

Sabrina Horton said...

When we first got Luna she was absolutely terrified of kids. Then she moved to barking at them and now she can confidently walk through a pack of them standing at the bus stop. Does she want them to pet her? Not really. And when I say kids I mean from babies on up to teens.

CorgiChaos said...

Merlin is scared of most kids. He was not, unfortunately, well socialized as a puppy, so we're doing a lot of "treats from strangers" work to get him to come around.

He really likes our nephews, which are quite small, but when strange children come around he hides behind us. :(