The Great Dog Experiment

I should have written this post back in July when we first welcomed Maurice, the border collie, into our lives--in those first weeks of honeymoon bliss when he was a puppy-sized, fuzzball of love and complete compliance.

See how happy we all were?

But the honeymoon's over . . .

He grew.

He barks.

He chews.

He barks.

He nips.

He barks.

He jumps.

And, did I mention? He barks!

Who me?

Nathanael and I broke our "NO PET" policy to accept Maurice from our neighbors whose five-year-old daughter hadn't taken to him.  Micah had been praying faithfully for nigh on a year for a dog and a baby.  We figured we had more control over the dog than the baby at this point.  So when the opportunity to adopt this adorable border collie came up, we took it.  (I think I might have been trying to fill a baby-sized hole in my heart with a dog.  Big mistake.)

All was great for the first two weeks until he suddenly discovered he could bark.  And bark he did!  ALL.  NIGHT.  LONG.  For nights on end.  Now, I accept getting up with an infant at night, but if I can't have the benefits of a beautiful baby in my home, I do NOT want to be getting up at night with a border collie.  After weeks of lying awake as poor Nathanael went up and down the stairs, in and out of the house, over and over at night to try to get Maurice quiet; we broke down and called a friend to see if they were still interested in getting a dog.  (An option we are quite honestly still considering.)  But, we decided to try one more thing--bringing him up on our bedroom balcony every night to sleep near us.  We would be close for disciplinary measures, and he would be close for comfort.  It has worked--sort of.  He seems happy, and more importantly, he is quiet (sort of), and we are sleeping (kind of).

Maurice reacts to each of us differently.  He respects and adores Nathanael as the alpha-male who is in control of the household.  Ethan is second in command--a stern disciplinarian balanced by a lot of affection and play.  Maurice views me as the tender-hearted (read "lazy") pushover who would rather bribe him with treats than have to train him.  And Micah?  He sees Micah as a wild thing that needs to be tamed and herded by nipping and barking.  He's pretty much got us all pegged.

So, three months into this experiment, the verdict is still out.

Uh oh!