When Robbie met Pearl

Every girl needs a furry best friend, right?! Well, Robbie is in luck as he just got a brand new playmate to play with and he couldn’t be a prouder big brother!

If you’ve been reading my blog a while, I’m sure you’ll have seen me talking about Robbie, but if not – let me tell you all about him. He is our loyal family dog and our first baby – Robbie is a black labrador with a hint of collie that gives him a fuzzy mane around his neck. He is the sweetest natured dog you’ll ever meet and wouldn’t harm a fly. Food, walks and squeaky toys are the way to his heart and he loves a cuddle. He is a very affectionate, loving dog who craves attention at all times. He still thinks he’s a puppy and bounces about like a lamb before his walks, but he’s actually nearly 11 human years old which means he’s in his 80’s in dog years! You would never know, apart from his little grey chin and his dislike for early mornings.

Before children, he was our only baby and was very used to being the centre of attention. He is quite a clingy dog and suffers from separation anxiety when he is apart from the family. Because of this he needs a lot of human contact, so he has to be in the same room as us, sitting next to (or on!) us at every opportunity.  When Violet came along, his world turned upside down and he didn’t know what to do with himself – he became so depressed we looked up calling out a doggy psychologist to help him adapt to family life. We did all we could to make sure to give him lots of love and attention to show him he hadn’t been replaced, our family had just grown.

Luckily, his doggy depression only lasted for around 6 weeks and he started to bounce back to his normal self. Now Violet is 18 months old they are the best of friends – she is able to throw a ball for him, give him sweet strokes and pats and most importantly shares her dinner with him!

During my pregnancy with Pearl, Robbie got really poorly – he had a really nasty stomach upset that just wouldn’t go away. We wondered if he might have been poisoned or had another serious underlying condition as he is quite old. At one point we genuinely wondered if he’d ever get to meet Pearl as things were looking quite bleak after numerous trips to the vets – thank goodness for our Petplan Pet Insurance with those vet bills! But much to our relief, he made a full recovery just in time for Pearls arrival and if anything is healthier than ever as he managed to shift a few excess pounds in the process!

So, bringing Pearl home to meet Robbie was a really special day for us, although we didn’t know how he was going to react. We knew he understood there was a baby coming as he became protective of me in the last week of my pregnancy and would just sit with his head on my bump at any time – I think he probably knew I was going to go into labour before I did!  So we tried to introduce Pearl to Robbie gently and calmly but he’s been a totally different dog!

Since Pearl’s arrival he’s been his normal happy self, he is intrigued by her and lets her sit with him, showing lots of interest in his new buddy and probably wondering why she isn’t able to throw a ball for him yet. I think he knows from his journey with Violet that a new baby means a new best friend and playmate, a new buddy for walkies, holding the lead, throwing the ball and most importantly – double the chances of sharing a snack too!

I’m so pleased Robbie hasn’t felt pushed out this time and we’ve settled into life as a family of five just fine. Now Robbie has two little playmates and he couldn’t be happier!

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