My daughter Riley has never liked babies. Not baby dolls or real live babies. I suspect it’s because she’s the baby in the family and resents anyone or anything that crowds in on her cuteness. It took months before she’d even look at the beautiful twins my sister-in-law adopted. Now that they’re almost three years old and have grown out of the way-too-cute-for-comfort zone, she grudgingly admits they’re “okay.”
Apparently Hershey is too cute for her own good, too. Riley is jealous of the puppy! If Riley ever catches Hershey napping on my lap, she shoos her off and tries to climb on herself. And while Hershey’s days of snuggling on my lap are almost over, Riley’s lap sitting days are long gone at age 6. But that doesn’t stop her from being jealous when I pay “too much attention” to the dog.
If I’m petting her or cuddling on the floor with Hershey, she tries to break it up.
“I hate Hershey,” she’ll declare.
“This morning you said you loved her,” I remind her.
She’ll tap her foot and raise an eyebrow. “Well, I was kidding.”
Yet Riley’s the first one to want to take Hershey for a walk, or curl up with her on the dog bed. Sure, sometimes she hogs the dog bed and there’s no room for the dog. I think she does it just to annoy Hershey.
Then she’ll tease her in a sweet singsong voice when she thinks I’m out of earshot. “I don’t like you Hershey…you’re a dumb dog.”
When I catch her and tell her that’s mean, she insists it doesn’t count since she’s saying it nicely. I thought my little animal lover would be enamored with the dog! Not so much.
Hershey and Riley definitely have a love hate thing going on. Hershey goes after Riley like no one else in the family. But Riley antagonizes her, too. It’s like having a third child.
“Do I have to separate you two?” I found myself warning them the other day.
Riley also gets very upset if she thinks the dog is playing too rough with the kitty. Riley is a cat lover for sure, and I suspect she’s still uncertain if she’s allowed to like dogs, too, or if that’s being disloyal to her feline friend.
I’m hoping the two of them work things out soon. We got the dog for the children, as well as my husband and I. It’s not exactly working out like we planned. Let’s just say I don’t feel comfortable leaving the two of them in a room alone.
Hopefully when Hershey’s a bit more manageable, she and Riley will bond better. Maybe some backyard romping will bring them together. And maybe once Hershey can’t sit on my lap anymore, Riley’s jealous streak will settle down.
Who’d have guessed it? Jealous of the dog. Thank goodness I didn’t have another baby. That would have been ugly.
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Have you missed any of the articles in this series?
If so, you can find them at:
The Bringing Up Puppy Series page.
Related posts:
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Worries Worries
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – The Crazies
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Instincts
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – The Worst Lab
- Bringing Up Puppy Series – Fairy Dog Mother – Part 2
