Aren’t they? Little Great Dane Napoleon has now been around for a month, and the more he is, the more resemblances I see with my toddler niece…
They will be on their best behavior when they expect a treat.
I still have to see a genuine “I am sitting perfectly still looking at you with my big wide eyes but it is not because you are eating cookies” attitude.
They are stubborn
And even though they perfectly understand they can’t do something, they do it anyway because they feel like it. Like choosing the sofa to eat a bone instead of the floor.
Whenever you wear your Sunday best, there will be drool on it.
Or they’ll grab and stretch it. You hesitate every time would like to wear white. They love to eat your hair too.
Even the most boring of your daily tasks are so fascinating to them that they will follow you everywhere you go, dancing around your feet and making you dizzy.
My parents got rid of that by having my little sister follow me instead, which was sooo annoying.
You want the best for them, but spoiling them is often not the best solution.
Sugar rush after licking the cake batter? That will only happen once.
They sleep all day and want you to take care of them at night.
What is it with them insisting on being on China’s time?
They love you unconditionally and you are the most amazing person in their eyes
Napoleon always has a sunny disposition and is always up for cheering you up when you need.
You can’t stop worrying about them
Isn’t it crazy? I mean, it’s just a dog, right? I spent some time after he came along reading all sort of crap on the internet (young parents, don’t do that!), and now that he has hippo almost daily, I worry. I worry that he grows too fast because his race is such that they get bone problems if they grow quickly. I worry that he will only live 6-8 years according to Wikipedia, while most dogs live much longer. It never stops.
They are masters at manipulation and crocodile tears.
Napoleon starts crying before I even grab him to punish him when he does something wrong.
“I am so sad I don’t even know if 12 cookies would do the trick to cheer me up”
You get them fancy toys, they play with the packaging.
Ok, fancy is a bit much, the dollar store toys got discarded in favor of Napoleon’s two favorite toys in the whole wide world: bottom half of a soda bottle and $0.10 orange electric duct tube.
They don’t need as much as you think.
$8 mini bottle of tearless dog shampoo? Napoleon is perfectly happy with our regular Head&Shoulder. But sometimes it takes strong will to ignore the marketers and their finely targeted products.
They can’t talk but they sure get the message across.
“give me more cookies” couldn’t be clearer if they spoke.
You never want to leave something at their height.
After a few trial and error, namely chewed shoes, chewed laptop charger, … the house has been dog proofed.
Potty training can be hazardous
Napoleon is getting used to the garden grass, but sometimes he loves to have a go at the bed instead…
They look just like you
Remember on Disney’s 101 Dalmatians, that part where they suggest owners and dogs look very much alike?
Same here, Napoleon loves hikes,
road trips (we brought him back home on day 1 inside a motorcycle pannier but he is way too big for biking now),
and cuddling in bed
We are far from kids’ costs but if you get crazy with the pet treats and gadgets, you can spend a fortune. So far, Napoleon had cost $191 to buy and get set up, to which we add a $5 leptospirosis shot, a $3 parvovirus shot (we go the the cattle shop where they give him a shot with no wait, while the vet charges $12), and a second $30 bag of Puppy Chow. The bag lasted a month, so I guess he will eat around $70 a month as an adult dog, wow!
Thankfully, we have staff to take care of him if we go away for a while, but if you don’t you have to add the cost of kennels and such on top.
Ha ha, nice post Pauline! I think you’re right on here. We used to have two dogs prior to having kids (my in-laws have them now) and there are definitely a lot of similarities. They do make life interesting, but it’s well worth it in my opinion.
Awe he is very photogenic. He looks like he’s really playing the part of “poor me, I want a treat.” 🙂 My cat acts like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum sometimes. He just has minor freak outs and he probably can’t understand why it cracks me up and I’m laughing at him. Pets are awesome!
I would love to hear their thoughts about humans for a day!
Aww but he looks so innocent. Puppies are cute, but you’re right, they are like toddlers. Unlike kids though, they grow up and mature in about a year or so. It takes some of us 32 years to mature and we’re still not there.
True. I’d say I still have some way to go myself!
Oh my Napolean is the cutest dog on earth! I love dogs, and you are starting to sound like a crazy dog parent just like myself 🙂
guilty haha!
He is the cutest dog! And I agree – they do very child-like actions at times 🙂
That was really cute. I swear my dog is actually a person and can hear everything I say. Whenever we talk about leaving the house and having to put him outside, he goes and hides before we even make our first move. Beagles are very clever …
I don’t know how they do it, sixth sense maybe? It is pretty impressive.
That’s funny. We don’t have a dog because both Cheryl and I have been bitten by dogs. For me, it’d be fine, but Cheryl still hasn’t worked through the fear. Her biggest beef, though, isn’t dogs as much as dog owners. I’m always amazed by the dog owners who let the dog jump all over you, and then are shocked that you don’t find their dog as adorable as they do….
(Man, I sound grouchy, don’t I? I really don’t mean it….your dog is very, very cute…..)!
I hate that too, whenever he gets close to people I grab him. Yesterday he got stoned as he tried to steal some food from a guy eating on the floor, I let the guy kick him so he learns not to be all over strangers. If you don’t carry food and don’t pay interest though, he’ll stay away. He is going to get way too big to try and stop a bad habit later on so better start asap.
Oh wow! He is so cute! Everything you write is so true! Our 2 beagles act exactly the same way. They definitely cost quite a bit. We have to add kennel costs when we go away too! One thing l will not allow is them in the bed. I did it before with my old dog, he took over the whole bed..lying sideways. My hubby got them used to being on his chair in the living room, now he is squeezed between both of them when watching tv, assuming he gets to sit at all. I won’t allow it, not on my chair..lol! He really is very very cute dog!!!
He is not allowed to sleep on the bed at night, only to come for siesta or when we feel like petting him. But that is probably a bad idea, as with his adult size he should be able to get on the bed on his own whenever he feels like cuddling.
What an adorable pup! It looks so much like Suzi the Border Collie (this is our dog) but of course will be much bigger. I know exactly what you mean about children and dogs. There is one major difference though: children grow up and become independent and dogs never do (trust me on this one, have had children and dogs). As to the mess, I graded for my green karate belt in a brilliantly clean uniform with a large muddy paw print on the left trouser leg.
haha, Suzi gave you the dog seal of approval!
Yup – absolutely a small child!
It sounds like your small child has a sweet tooth when it comes to cookies 😉
He’ll have anything I have, even plain rice looks much more fun than Puppy Chow, he gulps it down like chocolate!
Great post 🙂 Dogs really can be expensive, but they are worth it. I LOVE that picture of cuddling in bed – so cute!!