Puppies and Babies

There are few things in life cuter than puppies and babies, right?

As a new parent and big lover of dogs, I was recently reflecting on the frequent comparisons people make between babies and puppies.  Such comparisons seem all too appropriate to some and can be incredibly irritating to others, and I think these days I'm falling squarely in the middle.  I can say for certain, though, that before I actually had a real live newborn in my life, I thought having a puppy was a whole lot like having a baby.  This is evidenced by the following statement from the blog entry I did (and recently re-read) shortly after we got Ginger (she was about 10 weeks old at the time): "Taking care of her has definitely been challenging. She needs constant attention (and I do mean constant)..."

To quote the timeless film The Princess Bride in regard to my use of the word "constant" right there, "I do not think that word means what you think it means."  I had no concept of the kind of time and attention a baby person of roughly the same age would require.  It used to drive me absolutely crazy when people used to say things like "'You don't know what having a baby is like until you go through it yourself."  Partially because I wanted to start a family very badly and I felt it was an insensitive thing to say (I still think it is...but that's a different subject entirely) but also because it's a pretty obvious statement.  Couldn't it be said that you don't know what anything in life is like until you experience it yourself?  Say, seeing the Grand Canyon, going sky diving, or myriad other things?  But the thing that was different for me about having a baby is that it completely shifted my standards in a way that nothing else had.  I experienced the extremes of things in ways I previously thought impossible.  Pain.  Exhaustion.  Worry.  Love.

But in my earlier self's defense, there are certainly some aspects of dog ownership that prepared me well for motherhood.  Because I'm fond of numbered lists, I shall give you the top four:

1.  Having a puppy helps you care less about your stuff.

When a dog or two has already made herself at home in your house you kind of get used to having your things peed, pooped, vomited, and drooled on, so when a baby comes along and does the same, it just doesn't phase you all that much.

2.  Having a puppy teaches you that you can love something even when it is completely disgusting.

Somewhere between cleaning doggy diarrhea out of your carpet and attempting to gather your darling puppy's pee pee for a urine test while she squats on the grass in front of the vet's office, you realize you'd do anything for that little fur ball...and even more than that, while it's undeniably gross, these things just don't seem that bad because she's YOUR dog.  I'd say the same is true for my little son.  Things I once thought would be downright gag-inducing just aren't really that bad because, well, he's mine.  I don't even care when the hair at the nape of his neck is sour-smelling and crusted with spit-up or he somehow has poop on his feet.  Albeit I'll give him a bath ASAP because I care about his general well-being, but I don't mind doing it one bit.  I don't even mind when he pees on me almost as soon as I get him out of the bath because I didn't get his diaper on quickly enough. 

3.  Having a puppy makes you realize that being responsible for another living thing is actually pretty hard.

Not that my life was ever particularly exciting, but having to get home to feed and let the dogs out can sometimes limit your social life.  If nothing else, it gives you a fairly rigid curfew.  Having a child to take care of is obviously more limiting since you can't leave a baby home by himself for hours on end with nothing but a bowl of water and a soft place to lie down (maybe a few toys to chew on) and NOT expect to be arrested for negligence, but needing to keep a pup's well-being in mind definitely makes it so you can't just always think about yourself.

4.  Having a puppy (or any pet, most likely) begins to break your heart and make you vulnerable...but in a good way.

This one is hard to explain, but I'll try.  When we got Ginger, and then Pepper, I started to care for all animals way more than I did before.  Even wild animals...squirrels, racoons, what have you.  Road kill became an utterly heart-breaking sight.  Animals dying in TV shows or movies was unbearable.  That Sara McLachlan commercial for the ASPCA?  Don't even go there.  I think because, all of a sudden, all things soft and furry suddenly made me think of MY dogs.  And thinking about anything bad happening to them ripped my heart wide open.  With the birth of my son the same is true...in an exponential kind of way.  My heart has been ripped wide open all of the time.  I'm now one of those people that cries when they get a particularly touching greeting card.  It's not great.  But at the same time, it kind of is.  Life just feels bigger now.  More meaningful.  It's good, but it can be painful at times.  I feel like my two pups opened the door for that.  Maybe it's simply the act of caring for someone or something that relies on you completely.  I don't even think having children would necessarily do that for everyone (after all, having children period isn't for everyone), but that's what it did for me.  It forced me to think beyond myself in a big way.

When my little man is actually big enough to play with those dogs, and when they actually start to show affection for him, my heart is going to freaking explode with joy.  But all of this is to say...I get it.  I do remember what it was like before my son was in my life and really, sometimes dogs and kids do bear some striking similarities.  Like this Huffington Post blogger once wrote: "Oh! Yes. I also have something in my life that poops AND brings me joy."  Amen to that, three times over.