Tuesday, May 08, 2007

The Dog House

I am becoming more and more concerned about Bailey and how he is going to react to having the baby around. He is just giving us more and more trouble, and the baby isn't even here yet. He is just so defiant and things have to go exactly his way. I hate to write about this because I don't want to give people the wrong idea about him, but he has shown some signs of aggression. I don't believe by nature that he is an aggressive dog, but he can be pushed to that point. He is becoming more and more unpredictable as to what it is that will push him to that point.

I honestly don't see him acting out with aggression toward the baby. Especially early on when the baby really can't interact with him at all. I honestly just see him continuing to act out toward us with defiance and possibly aggression when we try to control the defiance.

This realization is breaking my heart. We have tried (and will continue at least for now) everything we know to treat this and live in harmony with Bailey. We want him to be a happy and well adjusted dog, but to what extent? I honestly thought I would do ANYTHING it took...even early in the pregnancy, I couldn't imagine "giving up" on him. But I don't want to be stupid about this. I honestly don't want to end up like one of those people on the news whose dog has malled their child and they are like "I had no clue this could happen".

If the signs are there...it is always a possibility. I seriously feel ill everytime I think about it. I can't imagine life without Bailey, but it only takes one mistake. Am I really ready to be on guard 24/7? My heart is broken, and I have literally sobbed over this. I just pray every day that God will give us wisdom when dealing with Bailey, and if we have to make one of the most difficult decisions I can imagine making at this point in my life, that He will give us comfort and peace about it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

many will give you advice about this, but trust your own instincts and go with your gut on this one.

Anonymous said...

Praying for you as you decide on this! Big stuff....I guess those are decisions that only moms of dogs and kids can make. :) You are already a GREAT mom. love u
KK