The yelling house

by Jennifer Graf Groneberg (Subscribe to Jennifer Graf Groneberg's posts) Apr 17th 2008 11:00AM

Last week we got a puppy.

One of the boys' favorite books is Audrey Wood's The Napping House. In it, a peaceful, sleeping house is transformed by a flea, a wakeful flea! And us, too. We've been transformed by 10 pounds of wiggling puppiness.

He's part Border Collie, part Australian Shepherd, and part Blue Heeler. In other words, a tremendous combination of instinct and temperament for herding sheep or cattle. But what we have instead of ducks or geese or lambs or calves, are 3 young boys with no desire to be held in a bunch or pushed through a gate.

It doesn't help matters that we can't decide on a name. Max? Sam? Jack? Bad Dog?

We'd had a difficult enough time choosing a name for our children: we are the parents who named their twins based on a remark by our ultrasound technician, who explained that for clarity, the babies would be referred to as Baby A and Baby B throughout the pregnancy. My husband Tom and I took that protocol to heart, and named our boys Avery and Bennett.

When we picked up the puppy, we made the exchange at a gas station on the side of the highway. He was in the back seat, on a blue tarp, and had vomited from car sickness. The woman meeting us held in her arms a young, dimpled baby. I asked hopefully, "Does he have a name?" The woman thought I meant her baby; I was asking about the dog.

Having a puppy in the house reminds me of the few facts I know about toddlers: that they have a particular, focused type of willpower that makes my own seem like a pale, wilted thing; that they have the cunning and intelligence to get themselves into trouble, but haven't yet developed the ability to get out of it; that you can pack a lot of running and jumping and hopping and eating and pooping into a single day, if you put your mind to it.

I'm reminded too of a parenting site I found when my first son Carter was little. There, I learned that small children are better able to respond to commands telling them what they should do, as opposed to what they shouldn't do. I finally realized this after a long morning of yelling, "NobitenobitenobiteNO!nobarknojump...YOU! GO LIE DOWN!"

The puppy is black and white and a shade of gray that looks blue in the sunlight. He let out his first bark and it sounded like the call of a lovesick rooster, or a beginner's attempt at yodeling. He chews the kids' rubber rain boots, the gloves, the Legos and the Imaginext Battle Castle, even the flashcards.

Avery calls him "baby." When the puppy ruins their toys, Avery says, "Baby time out." Or, "Baby nap time." He follows the puppy around the house and I hear him issuing reprimands: No! No! My sweet Avery, now the bossy one. Who would have guessed it?

Avery has always been the smallest, and he was the last to learn to walk and talk, because he has Down syndrome. Though he's the middle child, in many ways we treat him like the baby of the family. The puppy has changed the pecking order around here: Avery is no longer on the bottom.

At night, the puppy sleeps on each of the boys' beds, taking turns. If I wake, as I sometimes do, and wander from room to room, ending in the kitchen (making sure the stove is off) to the back door (double checking), sometimes even taking a step outside to look at the stars, the puppy climbs down from the warm piles of comforters and covers and sleeping boys, and follows me. When I return to my own bed, he puts his head in my lap and looks up at me with his golden eyes and my heart melts.

There will be no more babies for us. Once, this thought would have sent me to tears, but no longer. I'm happy with the size and shape of our family, each member as important and essential as another. We fit together like pieces of a puzzle, the picture of our lives becoming more and more clear with each passing day.

This is the season of puppies and little boys, a time that is not quite bottles and diapers, but puppy chow and tiny piddle stains hidden in corners. We settle on a name: Bailey. Avery still calls him Baby, but it's close enough that nobody seems to mind.

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Comments (10)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Michelle 4-17-2008 @ 8:09AM

beautiful, as always. Do you plan to crate train him? Not to sound too bossy, but you should. It really helps with potty training, and it gives them security. You might want to put the kennel next to your bed the first week or so, he WILL whine. But if he can see you, he should be fine. Our dog of many names (Bella Bruschi Maggie) is completely in love with her kennel now, and she goes straight to it at night when she has been outside after 9 pm or so. She knows, it is security. And it is peace of mind for you, too, on the poopy messes. ;)
Hope your book arrives today, and that you enjoy it half as much as I enjoyed yours.

Claudia 4-17-2008 @ 9:04AM

Oh Jennifer you got a puppy!!!! And I love the name "Baby," too, if Avery insists...

It sounds like so much fun over there -- the boys, the puppy -- I hope for all the noise it is in another way quieter this week, or at least slowed down a bit.

love c

heather 4-17-2008 @ 11:15AM

I have a dog that has that combo + husky. She is a great dog, very smart. I would highly recomend crate training too.
Training can never start to early. He will probably learn fast and will need a job. You can discourage the hearding of the kids. But sometimes it comes in handy. I will ask Nova to go find one of the kids and she goes and looks for them.
congrats on the new family member.

Deb H 4-17-2008 @ 11:46AM

We got a new puppy from our neighbor shortly after our older dog, Lucky died a year ago. My children named him Prince Edmund and the name expanded to Prince Edmond Gerbil Slayer after he killed our poor defenseless little gerbil that escaped from the cage. It's been an eventful two years of puppies, little boys and gerbils. We've had animal funerals which have given us the opportunity to talk about life and death with all the importance of family relationships. I'm extremely blessed to be able to write about these moments as a Feature Writer for www.childnparent.com. For more stories about Prince Edmond Gerbil Slayer and great parenting tips, check out the site and our blog today! My heart goes out to anyone having family and puppy moments such as yours. Very well written and inspired!

Jessica 4-17-2008 @ 1:34PM

Oh how wonderful! Congrats to you and the boys. The pup will be an amazing friend to them all.

Niksmom 4-17-2008 @ 2:23PM

Oh my. I can almost imagine the loving chaos! ANd I am looking forward to the stores which must surely follow!

Jordan 4-17-2008 @ 2:35PM

I love it. I'm trying to imagine adding a puppy to the chaos of this household and am left in awe of your patience. ;-) Sounds like a lot of FUN, though!

jennifergrafgroneberg 4-17-2008 @ 7:19PM

Thank you for the congratulations, everyone, and the encouragement and good advice...we have: puppy food, a collar, and a crate. I'm a big fan of the crate! It really helps Bailey settle himself, and I think it gives him a place of his own to feel safe.

Kat 4-17-2008 @ 7:50PM

I have an Australian cattle dog/golden retriver mix. she is wild! smart, but wild.

what I did when she was a puppy was, on top of crate training, was keeping her on a leash(long enough so she had room to walk around) and had her attached to me at all times. of course I would let her loose to run and play with the kids and other dogs but only when I could keep a good eye on her. it worked somewhat, and I never had to worry about her getting into something when I turned my head.

the only drawback of that is she got so used to being so near me that now, even at a year she is completely stuck up my butt. everytime I move she is right there, really with her head almost in my butt! we had a problem with that...she would see me going to walk over a gate and jump it first, usually when my 1 year old son was on the other side. she would land on him/end up scratching him/knock him down..etc finally I started holding her back telling her wait and moving my son out of the way, then I would tell her "go on" and now she will look to make sure he's not there before she jumps. it's funny, she will be running full speed and then stop dead in her tracks in front of the gate, look and then jump if the coast is clear!

Michelle 4-19-2008 @ 11:14PM

aaaaww, congrats on the new addition to your family :) Kayla would love for us to get a puppy, or a cat even, but I'm not much of a pet person...I know...she's missing out!

I had to laugh at Avery bossing the puppy around. Kayla is doing that now to Lucas, saying, "No Lucas! No!" when he obviously hasn't done anything to her. She just gets upset from hearing us say that, or something similar, and she takes it out on him...or her baby dolls...we hear her in her room saying the same thing to her dolls, and placing them in the "naughty spot" saying "naughty spot baby! sit!" LOL

We partly chose Lucas' name because it starts with an L - now are family is "J,K,L,M" :)

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