Molly
As some of you will already know, I’m a new Mum again, hence my absence from writing for a short while. My baby is 3 months old now, and she’s the most beautiful and well behaved Spoodle that ever lived. To my friends who have also recently acquired Spoodles (including all Oddle variants), you know how it is.
It might sound like a different beast altogether to a child, but I’m noticing many similarities in terms of aspects of life that need to be taught. I’ve heard it said many a time that it would be nice if our children came with a manual. The beauty of getting a dog baby is that it does come with a manual. In fact I suffered from so much information overload before she came home that I was unsure I would cope with the weight of responsibility and almost changed my mind at the eleventh hour - a luxury one doesn’t have with children, so I acknowledge there’s a fundamental difference there. Somehow when one is exposed to all the facts up front, one feels a heightened obligation to succeed. Fortunately we don’t do Oodle coffee groups or we’d all be under pressure to conform to expectations. Is your Oodle sleeping through the night yet? Mine is. Does your Oodle know how to sit yet? Mine does. I wonder why yours doesn’t? Do you think perhaps there’s something wrong with it?
Our family is adjusting to Molly being a part of us. We’re having family conferences to explain that she is a baby and should be treated as such. In other words, she is not a toy. She is not for our entertainment; she is a living, breathing soul with her own thoughts and feelings. She should not be picked up and dangled by her front legs to see if she can walk on the back two. It’s not a natural thing for dogs to do. We do not now, nor will we ever have, any remote inclination to submit her for New Zealand’s Got Talent auditions. Happily we’ve not encountered any sibling envy. In fact we have the opposite problem where the boys have found something new to argue about in terms of who gets to spend the most time with her. They’ve gone to such lengths as to voluntarily relinquishing their computer time in a bid to be the most favoured sibling.
From a Mother’s point of view, I now have a new soul to add to the burden of guilt a Mother feels on a daily basis. In Molly’s case, it really is a case of being subjected to puppy dog eyes, which we all know are extraordinarily hard to resist. It’s hard enough to bear the cross myself without the suffering appeals for a second chance I get from the rest of my family when she is shut outside on a rainy day because she’s been naughty and sits outside the door with her ‘eyes.’ Now the ’others’ think I’m uncaring and heartless when really all I’m trying to do is set boundaries for the sake of us all. I’m playing the long game. As one does with children. “Don’t make a rod for your back,” I hear my own Mother’s words echo. Mean, but necessary.
I had a few sleepless nights with my baby girl when she first came home but as a Mum I’m used to that. She gave an minuscule whine for a week or so when her little bladder was too full to hold on and we trotted off outside for some relief. Beyond that, toilet training has been a breeze with Molly. She actually listens and understands, or at least gives the appearance of doing so, which is refreshing compared to what I’m used to. She quickly goes out to do her business now on command before bed and then doesn’t disturb me until morning. It’s actually me that has to wake her up - another concept that is foreign to me since I had my human children. If I had known then what I do now, I would have sat my boys on the toilet every half hour at 12 weeks old and chanted “busy busy” until they did a wee. Then I would have given them a treat. Soon enough they'd have got the drift and I'd have saved hundreds of dollars on nappies.
Feeding Molly is a doddle too. Her food is put out and if she doesn’t eat it within ten minutes, it’s taken away. There are no substitutes, and there is no bargaining. If she doesn’t eat it, it will keep for another day. She has no voice to argue so it works well. I’m not concerned because she’s a very healthy little bundle and I’m sure she would survive splendidly for a few days on her puppy fat.
Molly is lying placidly at my feet as I write this. In the short time we’ve known each other, she’s become my little buddy… unconditionally so. I love her so much already that I can’t imagine what my life was like before she arrived. Reminds me of two other little creatures who exploded into my life and filled a gap I didn't even know was there. Just when you think you couldn't feel any more love than you already do, you do.
Mum’s the Word:
