We started off with a dog who kind of avoided us, and an Aubree who was very wary of him. Now we have a dog who wags his tail for all of us, whines for attention when we get home, plays tug of war and is learning fetch, knows sit, down, come, and if the kids try to play 'find me' with him they'll have lots of treats and can never manage to actually hide from him. And Aubree, well, Aubree is all over him. We watched today as she hugged his head, threw him balls, and told him off as she tried to get the ball back from under him as he rolled around for pats, teeth showing and all. Pretty sure her fear is gone.
She sees him a lot being home all day with me, and tries to hog him when the other kids get home, but they all love him. Cameron's turned into a diligent trainer, with Reese and Grace right along with him. Aubree totally tries to sneak him as much food as she can, one time filling his bowl and putting it outside with him when I was busy. It's been pretty fun to have the kids playing soccer or football out in the yard with Padfoot watching or running along with them trying to catch the football. Amazingly, Grace likes to help me scoop poop, and has even voluntarily gone out and done it herself. She's pretty awesome.
It's been a bit of learning curve though; we've had lots of chewed stuffed animals, shoes and books (he seems to favor library books), carpet dug up and shredded along a doorway, and a permanent pink marker chewed and spilled all over the carpet, a chewed off baby doll foot and cone of shame pulled off and chewed up. I had hoped I wouldn't end up being the one walking him, brushing him, and picking up poop, but generally I am. Which I kind of expected. But it's funny how, before we got him I considered the nuisance of onerous chores, and now we have him, it's just part of the deal and not so bad.
I wish some parts of the deal of life chores, like having to plan dinner everyday, could become not so bad. Walking the dog is way more fun.
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