5 Reasons I’ve Loved Having A Pet And A Baby

Our sweet rescue dog Olive has brought us so much joy since we got her two years ago. I love her snuggles, her playfulness, and so many other things about her personality! However, I was a little nervous of what it would look like to take care of her when our son arrived. Would they interact well? Would I be overwhelmed with the responsibility of taking care of our high-energy dog when all I wanted was to collapse on the couch?

Fortunately, she has pretty much been the best doggy big sister in the world and I have LOVED having her around as I’ve learned to be a (human) mama.  If you’re worried about how your dog and baby will interact, I’m here to say that at least in our experience, it has been really stinking fun and adorable.  Here are my five favorite things about having a pet and a baby at the same time!

1) She was a source of comfort to me in the early months.

Those first few months with a newborn are rough, y’all.  The middle of the night wake up calls, the crying (from you and the baby), the sometimes long recovery process…it’s a lot to take in! She may have just been confused about the tiny creature ruining her night sleep, but Olive followed me to the nursery when I fed Caleb, keeping my feet warm as I nursed our little guy.  She was a source of sweetness and comfort when all I wanted to do was stay in bed and I am so grateful for that!

2) She gives me a great reason to go outside several times a day.

I miiiiight not always have the best attitude when I finally get Caleb down for a nap and Olive decides it’s the perfect time to jump at the door and go play outside, but I do love that taking her out to go potty or go on a walks gives me a daily reason to get out of the house.  I remember moments in the first few months where I would hand Caleb off to Jordan or my mom/mother-in-law and step outside with her, enjoying the quiet and the sun for a few baby-free minutes.

3) She motivates me to clean our house consistently.

Okay, it might be more accurate to say she FORCES me to clean our house more consistently.  Nothing makes you realize that you’ve forgotten to vacuum like seeing your baby lift up their head during tummy time and see their face is absolutely covered in dog hair!

Now that Caleb is a rockin’ and a rollin’ around the house, having a clean floor is all the more important. One of my go-to’s to keep the floors clean has been the BISSELL® Pet Hair Eraser® Vacuum.  This thing is magical, y’all.  It has a tangle-free brush roll so all the hair actually goes into the tank instead of just getting wrapped in impossible-to-untangle knots around the roller, and the tank is extra-large with a patented cyclonic pet hair spooling system that separates and captures pet hair so you don’t have to reach in and grab it to get it in the trash (because….gross).

Maybe the best proof that this thing works? It managed to clean the couch in our front room, a couch that Olive claimed as her own early on that is so covered in dog hair we haven’t sat on it in months (does anyone else do this or do other people actually clean things?).  This vacuum has a SmartSeal™ Allergen System that trapped all the yucky dust, dander, and allergens and left behind a  super-fresh Febreze Filter, meaning our house smells like clean, fresh laundry instead of our sweet but stinky dog.

I have a feeling I’ll still find the occasional Olive hair in Caleb’s diaper (is that TMI? Woops!) but vacuuming every once in a while using this Bissell bad boy is a good start, right?

4) She entertains the baby.

The curse of the only child is that there’s nothing in the house to entertain Caleb besides his mama.  As he’s gotten a big clingier in the last few months, Olive has been an unexpected lifesaver! He giggles with delight when she runs around the house like a crazy thing and loves when she licks his high chair and any part of him she can reach after mealtimes.  It may only provide 2-3 minutes of entertainment at a time but I’ll take it!  The post-meal cleaning happening in this iPhone snapshot below is pretty much a daily reality in our house!

5) She teaches our son compassion and love for animals.

I didn’t grow up with animals and if I’m being honest, was always a little bit scared of dogs.  I never understood how people could feel so close and connected to their dogs until we got Olive (I shared about how she grew my Grinch heart in this totally sappy post a while back).  I love that Caleb’s earliest memories will involve this sweet black lab who doesn’t have an aggressive bone in her body, who happily tolerates all of Caleb’s face-grabbing and fur-pulling without even the slightest complaint.  Caleb is growing up seeing animals as creatures to be loved, snuggled, and played with and I hope that it creates in him a compassionate and loving heart.

We’ve loved having a dog and a baby for so many reasons! If you’ve had a pet and a baby at the same time, what have you loved (or not loved) about it?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.