Is there anything cuter than an child petting a fluffy dog? I mean, besides a large number of children petting a high volume of fluffy dogs (while bunnies hop at their feet, obviously). I mean, it's a truth universally acknowledged that people love puppies and babies. I do, too, though I'm coming from a place of pseudo-experience when I say that having both can be challenging yet awesome. Most new parent pet owners have seen that the resources for preparing your dog for a new baby are plentiful, long, and occasionally contradictory. As awesome as it is, it can also sometimes be a hot mess.
Like most parts of parenthood, my partner and I tried to guess how the relationship between our dog and our son would go, and we did our best to follow as many guidelines as possible, but there was really no way to know until we experienced it ourselves. Now, like 95% of the time I wouldn't trade it. I love seeing the interactions, I love seeing my son find a dog toy in the hallway and run to the living room to offer it to our dog, I love seeing my partner take the two of them out for walks on sunny afternoons because it's super cute to see them all together (no, it has nothing to do with the fact that it gives me a few minutes of free time, why do you ask?). Still, it's not always easy to have a dog and a toddler under the same roof, and here's why: