Then there's the dog

Some of the questions we're asked this past week is how Goldie is doing with our new arrival (Goldie is our almost 4 year old cocker spaniel). It's sometimes hard to say since dogs, like babies, don't have much of a vocabulary - Goldie...how are you feeling today? "Woof!" It's amazing what can be communicated through body language, both in humans and in dogs.

While we were in the hospital, Goldie became truly depressed. I have never seen her like this. She was likely depressed because she wondered if she'd ever see Danielle again. She would see me occassionally and also Lisa, who fortunately strikes an uncanny resemblence to Danielle. Of course, Goldie knows the difference between the two. But it was clear she missed Danielle. I would come home from the hospital for a short time to take a shower or something and Goldie would just be "mopey". I would take her for a walk and she'd hardly keep up with me as she moped along. Not normal for this dog. It was obvious she was very sad. I wonder if she began to feel like Danielle would never come back.

Then the day we all came home with Joshua, she practically came alive again. She was so happy to see Danielle. The only difference, of course, is Danielle now had someone else with her...this small human-like creature. She sniffed Joshua endlessly always wagging her tail, very inquisitive in nature. You could tell she was still trying to figure this thing out. But boy was she excited that everyone, especially Danielle, was home.

There were times initially when Joshua would begin fussing and crying and Goldie didn't quite know what to do with that. She would run around trying to figure out where that sound was coming from and making these whining sounds. I think eventually, she realized, it was Joshua and there even came a point where it almost appeared that she knew this was a small human and that she was being somewhat protective of him.

Then a few days later, we noticed Goldie wasn't jumping up on our bed...or maybe she couldn't. She would usually be able to stand on her hind legs leaning against mine in order to give her a flavor snack. It was as though her hind legs or hips or something were hurt in some way preventing her from being able to jump. Yet, I would take her for a walk and she walked fine, she would take off running after a cat without a problem, and so on. But she just couldn't get up on our bed. She was even having trouble getting onto the couches. I honestly thought it was emotional at first. But as it went on for another day, I really began to wonder if there was a physical problem and was beginning to plan on taking her to the vet at some point. All this time, we continued to give her lots of attention and love and to help her onto the bed and so on.

Then later on Saturday, she jumped up on the bed again. And again. And again. She stood on her hinds to get the flavor snack. She got up on the couches without a problem. Before we knew it, she was fine and back to her playful self. It was the weirdest thing. It's possible she did hurt herself and it just took a couple days to heal on its own. But I can't help but think that there was a huge emotional element that caused her to act the way she did. As though she was testing us to see if we still cared about her. Of course we did...and we showed it...so maybe that helped her get over that emotional hurdle.

So, now we're back to one big happy family. Goldie is as cute as ever. She's doing great with Joshua so far. Someday, we'll have to do a new family picture.