Friday, 4 November 2016

7 ways a dog is like a 3 year old

Daisy has lived with us for five months now. She has easily moulded us to fill her needs slipped into our household, and Sophie proclaims regularly that Daisy is her "bes fren" We've all learnt numerous lessons from having her here and walking her, but at just over one year old she is technically "fully grown" in body, but just like a 3 year old in spirit.

She wants your food I don't when I last ate something without a dog sitting in front of me, or Sophie trying to climb into my lap to remove it from my mouth. And forget any special treats each evening, I can only eat them unaccompanied on daycare days [because Daisy takes the kid-free time to]

She wants what you have We have bought numerous toys for Daisy over the last few month, but they last exactly 3.2 seconds before she's shredded them into piles of stuffing around the house (the chew rope took a little bit longer, 3 days of hardcore chewing.) But that means that she's often hunting around for something more than bones or wooden blocks to chew on. Whenever the kids pull out something new to play with, Daisy is the first one there, having a sniff and a lick to determine if she wants to chew it or not.

She wants to know where you are I seem to have become Daisy's people. Whether that's because I'm home more than Steve or she feels a kindred spirit, I have no idea, but she rarely listens to anyone else [see, just like a 3 year old!] But that has come to mean that if I head downstairs to the washing machine, she's on my heels; she's learnt to stick her nose into the toilet door to push it open, and checks on me every time I'm in the shower. Just like a 3 year old.

She eats everything, until she doesn't Daisy hasn't actually eaten her dinner for 3 days now. She gets served cooked mince, and sometimes I add sweet potato to it. That's it. She's gone from veggies, meat and pasta in gravy when she first arrived to plain old mince. And now she won't even eat that. Just like the 3 year old who proclaimed rice was her favourite, and ate it every time it was dished up, until last week she stopped eating it. [NB Daisy isn't starving, she's been munching on chicken necks during the day]

She jumps on furniture, even when told not to Daisy is full of energy that some days even walking with me doesn't help. And once she gets started running around, she sort-of can't stop until she's exhausted. If there's a couch or table in the way, she jumps on it without hesitation. Like the 3 year old that can't get ready for bed without jumping on it like a trampoline.

She always wants to know what everyone else is doing Sophie is currently in the chatterbox-why stage of learning language. I had forgotten how truly exhausting this stage was, but add a dog who is at your heels every time, it becomes a precarious balance of who exhausts you first!

She wants to get in the car every time I'm currently driving a sedan, which we try really hard to not let Daisy in (although if it becomes the only car she remembers going to the vets in, we could be in trouble, so I take her out occasionally), but Steve's station wagon has a cargo barrier, so it's safer for Daisy to travel in that. So if he picks his keys up in the middle of the day, Daisy is ready to walk outside with him. Just like when I put shoes on, Sophie is asking where I'm going, and whether she can come too.

And then we get moments like this, where they're so peaceful together that hearts just melt. They truly are best friends.



  1. Kittens are very much like 3yr olds too, and sometimes like newborns. Drives me insane.

  2. Hi Toni and Cate, I hope your Friday link up goes well. I havent really got anything suitable to link up today...even from my archives. Thank you for the support of my new Monday link-up and I will keep your broad topic area in mind for future posts. And, Cate, "this" is why we don't have a dog. You have the patience of....a parent!! Cheers, Denyse xx

  3. Our Cavapoo Coco is five and a half now and still has her puppy moments! I smiled so much reading this post as it is just what she is like in so many ways. She follows us around and just needs to be in the same room as you. If we go out for a walk and come home via the supermarket, one of us goes in and the other stays outside with her and you can hear the howling from the middle of the store - talk about separation anxiety!
    A true escape artist still - we could never just open the front door and not hold onto her, she'd be off hunting squirrels over the park before we had time to put our shoes on!
    But such a good addition to your young family, kids learn so much from having a dog to look after - but boy isn't it like having an extra child!

  4. Dogs are so much fun! My 16 year old girl still does a few of those things. I think she sleeps most of the day conserving her energy for dinner time when she nearly breaks a hip with excitement!

  5. I always assumed they were similar from the point of view of they both understand a lot of words, but rarely heed them :)

  6. I loved this! It reminds me of my dog, Buffy! :)

  7. This is the very reason we are never getting a dog. Having a three-year-old is hard enough, I don't think my sanity or Dave's would survive a dog! Maybe when the girls are teenagers and the years of having a 3 year old and so far away we're viewing them with rose-coloured glasses we might consider it, but I'm really more of a cat person, they don't care about anyone!

  8. what a cute pup! I have a dog and I def feel like it's preparing me for life with chilrden someday!

    XO Sahra
    Que Sera Sahra

  9. Beautiful pup! I think people that don't have pets or have never had pets don't realize how much work they actually are and how similar to children they can be. I certainly wouldn't change it though as a house is just not a home without pets ;) #globalblogging

  10. Haha, I never really thought about this until a few weeks ago when I read a similar post about the child and dog being similar. It's so funny and it got me thinking, because my dog is also like a child!

    Thanks for sharing and for linking up to #AnythingGoes

    Janet :)

  11. Oh what a sweet dog, it sounds like she really loves your family and being around people! I wish I had a dog but at the same time, is it hard taking her for walks,etc almost the same as having a baby?? I really wonder because I wanted a dog but then I had my son and thought I wasn't sure if I could handle taking care of another living thing! They look so sweet in the photo, really makes me want a little pup : ). Thanks for sharing with #GlobalBlogging!


Thanks for leaving a comment!

Blogger Template Created by pipdig