April 2011 - Life According to Lillie
Well last time, we talked about an adventure I had on Halloween, but this time I’d like to bark at you about one of my biggest and most exciting life changes! Don’t worry, I’ll tell you whole story, just stay with me.
It all began about two years ago, when Mom started to… ahem… put on weight. I didn’t want to say anything to her at the time, because you know how moms can be when it comes to their weight, but I did try to get her to take me on more long walks, and all she wanted to do was take more long naps! I wasn’t sure what was going on, but like a faithful companion (which as any good dog knows is your main job), I slept by the bed when she napped. And I definitely wouldn’t complain about the great hours of couch snuggling I got when we started watching more movies, but I was a little confused when my couch space kept shrinking.
Now, lots of my canine buddies say that they noticed a change in scent when their human went through this, and I’d have to say that if I did, it was a subtle change. I noticed more changes in things like my routine and Mom’s moods. She could go from happy to sad to happy in 30 seconds, and I even caught her crying during Hallmark commercials! Mom and I are both usually what they call “stoic” – meaning we don’t show emotion too readily, but hot-diggity-dog! I could certainly tell whatever Mom was feeling. I figured she just needed some extra attention, so I made sure to always be right beside her with a kiss or a tail-wag to make her smile.
As time went on, Mom (who has always been a very independent woman) started asking Dad to do more things like feed us, bring in our 40 lb bags of food, and eventually even hold the leashes when we went on walks. I started to wonder if she was sick, or if she didn’t like us anymore, but I never got too worried since she always had time for couch snuggles… I just started having to lie on top of her legs instead of my usual spot beside her, since that had been taken over by her new, larger, and sometimes moving belly! Mom and Dad also started bringing lots of new, very small furniture into the house. It usually required quite a bit of assembly, which I could tell did not make them very happy. Luckily, I was always around to supervise and make sure they were attaching piece B to piece Q with screw #37f correctly.
Just when I was really starting to get concerned that Mom was never going to stop gaining weight, she and Dad suddenly disappeared for 3 whole days! Friends of ours like Dr. Bethany and our neighbor, Terry made sure that we were well fed, watered, exercised, and let us in and out, but Chloe and I had many long conversations about what had happened to our people. Just when we were getting quite concerned that something bad had happened to them – they pulled into the driveway! And when they got out of the car, Mom was skinny again! AND… they had a package with them. A small, sweet smelling, squeaky package that seemed extremely delicate by the way they were carrying it.
We were eager to see this thing that they’d driven so far away to get, and we barked a greeting to it, but were instantly shushed by Mom and Dad. We immediately saw why – just as we’d stopped our most excited greeting, the package began emitting an ear piercing noise! It sounded like the fire alarm, and the alarm clock, and the ambulance had all joined forces within this one tiny package, which was now being removed from its box to reveal that it was not a tiny package, it was a tiny human! For such a small person, it could sure make a loud noise!
It took some getting used to, as we were not allowed to bark near the tiny person – which we learned was a girl, and it was called “baby” – nor were we allowed to get her muddy, roughhouse with her, or jump up on her bed. But I loved her right away. I decided that if she was Mom’s baby, she was my baby, and I kept vigil over my baby. When my baby cried, I circled her bed to see if I could help, and when she needed a new diaper, I gave Mom the look, and though there was not a lot that I could do to help (darn lack of opposable thumbs!), I learned that there was one thing I could do – I could make her happy! I didn’t even have to do tricks! I just looked at her and she would gaze back at me, when I wagged my tail she would smile, when I sniffed her toes she would giggle, and when I jumped around on the floor and played with my toys she would laugh a huge belly laugh! It was wonderful!
Now that she’s bigger, we enjoy snuggling on the floor together, and she will reach out her small arms to hand me my toys. Sometimes she still gets scared if I bark, so I try only to do it if I need to protect the house, but we’re still having a tail-wagging good time learning how to fit together as a family of five. Mom, Dad, Chloe, me, and my baby.
Lillie is enjoying the ever-changing life of living with a baby (now a toddler)! She would love to hear your stories too, feel free to email Oberlin@carefirstanimalhospital.com and we’ll make sure she hears about them!
Tags: CareFirst Animal Hospital, Golden Retriever, Life According to Lillie, NC, Raleigh
