Big Brother

In July 2006, Dave and I brought home our first baby boy, Rocco (formerly known as Danny, but we changed that as soon as we adopted him). We were looking for a lovable dog that would make a great family pet. At just three months old, his paws were gigantic and he weighed almost 30 pounds. While knowing he was going to be a big boy, we were confident we found the right dog for us.

Over the next three years, Rocco made our family complete. He was with Dave and me in our first apartment in Scottsdale. He was with us during the move to our first home in Goodyear. He experienced every camping experience we did and loved every bit of fresh air. He slept in our bed when one of us were away (mainly Dave since I don't ever go anywhere alone). And although he has a severe anxiety disorder (if you don't know, our dog has a circling problem), we absolutely love him. If anything, he has taught how to be very patient. Rocco was our first baby...a baby who we had fun spoiling.

Before Vaughn was born, we had some concerns about how Rocco would react. We made sure he was socialized with kids and babies well before I even knew I was pregnant. But with his anxiety, we had no idea what kind of reactions he would have to all the new noises and smells the baby would bring into the house. We read as much as we could about how to get Rocco ready for his baby brother. At first, it seemed to work really well. Rocco was great during Vaughn's first few weeks, but he had also just started a new seizure medicine that made him drowsy.

By the time Vaughn was two months, Rocco was more anxious than we had ever seen him. Vaughn's sniffling, snorting thing he does before he cries would set Rocco off. He would run hyper circles, cry and bark. It would, in turn, make Dave and I anxious. His anxiety attacks made him act in an uncontrollable way. One night during dinner, Dave and I discussed getting rid of Rocco. We had no idea how we would do it because it would be hard to find a shelter to take him or someone to adopt him with all the "baggage" he carries (including three different kinds of medications). At that same dinner, we decided to make a conscience effort to pay attention to Rocco and give him lots of good exercise. It was hard at first but then was easily worked into Vaughn and my schedule to take him to the dog park.

A few months later...

Wa-lah! Not only has Rocco calmed down a tremendous amount, he has transformed into such a great loving big brother to Vaughn. He is very gentle with him although he's a massive animal. During playtime, instead of doing circles closely to Vaughn's head, he just lies down beside him. Rocco even lets Vaughn pet him. Vaughn likes to touch his fur since it's so soft. Not only has he been great with Vaughn, but he has also turned into a fetching machine! He never brought the ball back when I threw it, and magically as of last week, he sprints after the ball, picks it up and brings it back. Vaughn enjoys watching his big brother running back to us with a slobbery tennis ball hanging out of his mouth.

We are still very cautious with Rocco when around Vaughn, but have a feeling they're going to have an unbreakable brotherly bond.