A Dog’s Best Friend
When you add a new puppy to your pack, you always worry a bit about how everyone is going to get along. Sometimes, the older dogs simply do not take to the new puppy, and you’re in the stressful position of figuring out how to change the older dog’s feelings or the younger dog’s manners, hoping you don’t have a permanent problem or safety issues.
And sometimes, the older dogs seem to have been waiting their whole lives for a little brother.
Killian is a little bit of an immature, energetic three-year-old, so I had anticipated needing to keep a careful eye on him to make sure he didn’t either get overly bothered by the new puppy, or hurt him with his exuberance.
Instead, Killy is sweet, gentle, and absolutely over the moon to have somebody who never tires of him.
We use this interlocking playpen system to give the puppy a chance to hang out with us more while still keeping him out of trouble, and Killian will jump into Finny’s playpen for more time with him.
Murphy, for his part, is taking the opportunity to nap on the couch, as his appetite for rough play runs out long before Killian’s does.
When Finn falls asleep, Killy will nap almost on top of him, as if to make sure he doesn’t miss a second of the fun when the puppy wakes up.
I feel very, very lucky that instead of having to make space for Finn in and around the older dogs’ needs, we seem to have found a little puzzle piece that makes everybody’s lives a little more complete.