While Nick and I were staying in the hospital with Ava Claire, we were fortunate enough to have Nick's mom and dad stay at our house since they drove from New York. Cami immediately fell in love with Loretta and of course Brice slept with her at night. I am so happy they weren't alone when we were not home. Nick came home daily and would bring different items that Ava's scent so they could get used to it. Apparently, they didn't take much interest in those things though because they were so happy to see Nick (or at least Brice was). When Thursday, going home day, rolled around, I was very nervous. I had been away from my fur babies for 3 whole days! When we walked in the house, we had Loretta bring Ava in behind me. The pups were SO excited to see me! They jumped (which Nick tried to keep to a minimum due to the surgery but was unsuccessful) and licked and barked and 'talked' to me. I sat and pet them for a long time. When Ava Claire finally made her appearance, they were very confused (although, I attribute some of the confusion to the large pink balloon that scared Brice for several days). You could tell they didn't know what they were supposed to do. Nick would hold her down to let them sniff her and sneak a lick on a foot or hand but they were very alert which concerned me. I was so scared that I called my sister and told her to have Tylen come to my house immediately and make our back fence more secure because I now had two outside dogs. When I would want to sit with Ava Claire, I was terrified when the dogs would come near me. Now, being a dog person, I should have known that my fears were feeding into their anxiety. After two days of being terrified and torn about throwing the dogs to the backyard, Brice came and put his little pitty head on my leg while I was feeding Ava. I realized then that I had to relax and I had to remember how loving these two dogs were. I had to remember that Brice is frequently chased under beds by cats and Cami hasn't snapped at Nick yet though she hates him. Once I settled down, the dogs did as well. After much training and treats, I feel completely confident in Ava's safety with them as long as we are in the room with them and don't let our guard down. You have to always be alert with animals, not just pit bulls because they are all unpredictable. As of now though, Brice just wants to be near her, sniff her diaper to alert us that it needs to be changed and rest his head on her Boppy when she's on the sofa with us. He does great when we say "Leave It"- he'll walk away from her, or if we say "She's Okay" in a soothing voice, he isn't concerned about her when she cries. You can tell her mood affects him greatly. He wants to sleep at her crib but we keep him out and he will sleep at her door on occassion when she is in her nursery. Cami is wonderful with her. She doesn't get too close but she will come from wherever she may be in the house as soon as Ava cries and lay near her. She is much more alert as to sounds outside (Brice is as well) and seems to always be on guard. I am so thankful that the babies all get along great because I was truly concerned about it. I feel like our little family is now complete :-)
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