Audrey loves the pets. I mean really loves them. Every time she sees a cat or a dog she shrieks and laughs and takes off to try to catch them.
She makes this face.
She especially loves the cats. However, her approach to "playing" with them means they see her coming a mile away. If you truly want to pet the cat dear daughter, you probably should not shriek at the top of your lungs as you chase them down. You see they don't enjoy you quite as much as you enjoy them.
Once in a while Felix lets her catch him. This usually happens if he is getting attention from one of us. Apparently snuggling with a human is worth being accosted by a baby.
Shasta on the other hand, feels that Audrey is her little baby to protect and love. I cannot tell you how happy this makes us. We were a bit nervous about how Shasta would handle the baby. She tends to bark at kids a lot. Not just bark around kids, but really bark at them. We strongly suspected she would follow our lead and protect the little baby and it is so wonderful that she does.
The only downside of this is that when we are all out together she is extra on guard about her baby. Which equates to her barking at everyone and everything. It is like we went back in time four years. It is hard to get mad as we know her heightened anxiety is out of worry for Audrey but it is obnoxious. Hopefully this issue will improve over time.
Not only does Shasta feel she needs to protect Audrey, she has also decided it is not worth trying to avoid her. She lets Audrey play with her tail and her feet and lean on her and climb on her. Often she barely opens an eye when Audrey is playing with her foot or tail. It is very sweet, though I do try to set some limits as I don't want Audrey to think dogs are for climbing. But it is nice to not have to watch them so, so closely. I still am pretty nervous at the prospect of having other kids over, but hopefully we can work on that gradually overtime as well.
That Shasta, she is the best dog!
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