This isn’t Rigby’s first rodeo – in the eight plus years she’s lived with us she’s already seen two babies come home. Nevertheless, I was still a tad worried about how things would go once James arrived because Rigby’s never had two kids in the home at the same time, and she’s never been around a baby boy.

To help prepare Rigby for James’ arrival (and to avoid any potential doggie breakdown), Heather and I sent Linda, Heather’s Mom, home from the hospital with the blanket James was wrapped in his first night. Then, when Linda got back to our place, she let Rigby roll around on it so she could get used to James’ scent. We’d done the same thing with a blanket of Maddie’s (and then, later, a blanket of Annie’s), and it did a lot, I think, to ease the transition for Rigby.

Once Heather, James, and I came home from the hospital Rigby was immediately very clingy and protective of Heather. She’d acted that way with both Maddie and Annie (seeing Heather post-op worried her), but this time she settled down a whole lot faster than before, which was nice.

Another change this time is that, in addition to being protective of Heather, Rigby’s also been very protective of the baby. If Annie moves toward James too fast, for example, Rigby jumps to her feet as if to say, “Slow your roll, kid.”

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Back away from the baby! I’m watching you’se!

So things have been a little different, but Rigby has adapted terrifically. She’s older now and has been through this before, so she’s kind of acting… dare I say… mature. Is it weird to call a dog mature?

James, of course, hasn’t taken much notice of Rigby (though to be fair he hasn’t taken much notice of anything), but I’m very curious to see what kind of relationship they end up having. If this photo is any indication, they’re going to get along just fine.

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