The brothers. What I refer to as the kiddo and the dog.
We got the dog a few months after I had the kiddo. Being completely sleep deprived with a newborn, we thought "Hey life isn't exciting enough. Let's adopt a stray puppy!"
OK we fell for the sob story of a dog thrown out of a car in front of barn, abandoned. That douche of an owner did us a big favor though. That dog is awesome. From the get go we saw it. He started sleeping under the crib. I used to call it the bunk beds for the two of them.
He has since displays extra levels of awesome that cannot be measured by any means. For the dog that was tossed like yesterday's trash, he is the perfect pooch for the kiddo with autism.
He has managed on many occasions to distract the boy out of a hissy fit meltdowns. He has nudged him into conversations by having to answer someones question about his dog. He has been a playmate and a partner in crime. He is, as my friend "K" describes him, "a carpet with feet". He doesn't mind (to much) how less than gentle the kiddo is with him or when he lays all over him. He accepted his fate being locked in the laundry room while the kiddo was getting early intervention therapies. He earns his keep by eating whatever snack the boy may drop. (Seriously, how do you non pet owners do it? Pets are vacuums!)
The kiddo knows no other life without him. This makes me happy but yet terrified. This dog isn't going to live forever. We think he's 9. (He's never showed us his papers.) There is a bit more white hair on him now. Can dogs go gray? Side effect of an autism owner? Not sure. I panic at the very idea of what would happen if something happen. This is s kid who cried his heart out when we took the dog to the groomers for a bath. (which then led to us stalking the grooming window at the pet shop. Fun free activity!)
Is it wrong or morbid of me to plan like this? To think that maybe we ought to get a deputy dog? A spare to the heir? Because a second dog, that's not extra work or anything right? HA! And if we did, we could get a female one. I wouldn't be the one gal in the house anymore.
However she and I would have to talk. There is only one head bitch in charge here. :-)