The Spoiled One...For Now

He goes by many names: Leo, The Buds, Leo Buds, Stink, Senor Buds, Old Man... Realistically though, he should be called The Spoiled One because he definitely fits that bill. He has three beds so we don't have to move them from room to room, a basket full of toys to choose from that he scatters everywhere so I can pick them up for him, specialty food so it won't upset his sensitive stomach, owns the entire backyard so much so that we don't dare plant anything because he'll ruin it, invites himself up on your lap and forces you to be lazy with him, has a space heater in the garage next to his crate for the cold months that drives our SMUD bill up, dominates our weekend mornings from 10:00am - 12:00pm so we can take him to the dog park when it's not raining, sleeps in our bed on the weekends, gets his own piece of turkey bacon on Saturday mornings (among other people food treats), gets to tag along leash-free when I go get the mail, annoys Littles all the time and we don't stop it (in fact we egg it on for our entertainment), has broken the "not allowed on the couch" rule so many times it no longer exists, uses the back door as his revolving door to go in and out every 10 minutes while we get to act as the doorman to open it for him, steals the blanket on your lap to cover himself with, runs to Jody when he's in trouble because he knows that he'll give him sympathy, and has us wired to automatically give him an ice cube every time we use the dispenser. These are just some of the ways that this dog is spoiled; I'm sure I could think of more.

However, this dog is in for a rude awakening when October rolls around and the baby arrives. While we can sit here and say that we're going to try and give him as much attention as possible still, even I think we're underestimating how much of our attention this baby will require of us. While there is a part of me that is interested to see him be pushed off his throne so he can stop being such a baby, there's also a part of me that's scared how he'll react. I've heard horror stories from others about how their dogs turned into brats and started peeing in the house again or even on the baby's stuff, chewed on anything they could find in the house, even a story about how their dog would run away. But I'm hoping - really hoping - that Leo will remain the lovable dog that he is. I'd like to think that he's going to be one of those dogs that lays next to the crib and licks the baby's face. You know, like in the feel good movies like Marley and Me.

So for the next 5 months, we'll let our Leo Buds be the spoiled one. We'll let him soak it up. And we're still going to try to give him as much attention as possible once the baby comes. We definitely won't ignore him because we love him too much. I mean, he is basically like our child - just a little more hairier, and with stinkier breath. Love you Stink!