Infant-canine relations

This is Bubba and Wes meeting for the first time:

One time at Crissy Field a year ago, Stevo, Bubba and I were lying on our bellies in a row, watching the joggers and bikers go by.  A man passing by looked at Bubba, happily sandwiched between us, and remarked, "Only child, huh?"

And he was.  He was and is a very loved dog that we spent more than a little bit of time cuddling, petting and walking.  We got him six and a half years ago when we first moved into our house in NC.  He's been our constant companion, our guard dog, our comfort and our baby for all of that time.  He is in our wedding photos.  Up until Wes, he dominated the lock screen on both our phones.

When I was pregnant, it was hard to tell how much Bubba was able to sense about the coming situation. He is generally very attuned to our emotions and goings on, so I suspect he knew something was up.  But I don't think he was prepared for when Wes finally came.

The day we brought Wessy home from the hospital, Bubba was eager to investigate.  He nosed in on the carseat and gave Wes a long sniff followed by a thorough licking.  Wes bursted into tears.

The next several weeks were difficult for Bubba.  He went from receiving an extraordinary amount of attention to being all but ignored (by us--we had family and visitors who wonderfully gave him walks and pets and love).  All of a sudden we were devoted to a little squirmy, screamy thing that came out of nowhere (to Bubba--my belly is not nowhere).

Around the time Wes came home, Bubba started to lick.  He licked his bottom and hindquarters incessantly.  He licked until he had raw spots and then he licked some more until they bled.  We started putting a collar on him but he could sometimes still reach back to lick.  The collar bothered his ears and made him shake his head constantly.  We thought maybe he had fleas so we put extra frontline on him. Didn't help.  The spots were never healing because he wouldn't stop licking them for long enough.

Finally, when Wes was three weeks old, we got desperate and went to the vet.  And our vet immediately honed in on the situation.  "He's licking because he feels abandoned."  He went on, "Humans bite their fingernails when they're nervous.  Animals lick and chew."  The lightbulb went on.

The vet prescribed a taper of a sedative antidepressant and advised us to try to include Bubba in baby care activities.   Now when I am feeding Wes, I invite Bubba over and pet him at the same time.  We thank Bubba for protecting the baby and being a good guard dog and bringing us shoes.  And it has worked.  Bubba is now completely off the antidepressant and is lick-free.  He has gone from being indifferent to protective towards Wes.

We love our buddy and are so glad he is doing better.  And we hope that this is beginning of a beautiful relationship between our two babies.