Last weekend my step-daughter Jamie and my grandson Riley came to spend a few days with us. As usual, Clio attached herself to Jamie and did not leave her side the whole time they were here. Jamie gets the best kidney beaning and whole-face kisses. She went as far as sleeping with her, waking her in the morning (5 a.m.) for a trip outside, and an egg on her breakfast kibble.
She followed her around the house, checked on Riley (he's 3), and just made sure her 'other family' was okay for the four days they were here.
The problem, you ask? My husband is extremely jealous of this relationship. Of course he doesn't hold it against his skin daughter. He holds Clio responsible and calls her 'traitor dog' for the duration of their stay and threatens to send her home with them when they go. This of course is not a threat to Jamie, she loves Clio. It's more of a threat to me. One benefit that Steve seems to enjoy is that he knows that for the nights Jamie sleeps in the spare room downstairs, he won't have a 60 pound dog laying on his feet until they are numb.
Jamie and Clio have always had a special relationship. Clio came to live with us two weeks before Riley was born and so Riley and Clio have kind of 'grown up together' even though they live 100 miles away and we only see them once a month or so. When we go somewhere that we can't take Clio with us, she stays with Jamie and her husband. Jamie takes her to the coffee shack for a latte and a milk bone every morning. Jamie has always been like an 'other mother' to Clio and I would never want that to end.
I wish my husband would just get over it. If by some chance Clio does 'ask' my husband for something while Jamie is here, he just looks at her and says "Why don't you ask your Jamie? You like her better anyway." I know he's really just kidding but I wonder how it affects both Jamie and Clio for him have this attitude.
Any suggestions, ideas, or comments are more than welcome, especially if any of you have a boxer with loyalties outside the immediate family.
Leta
She followed her around the house, checked on Riley (he's 3), and just made sure her 'other family' was okay for the four days they were here.
The problem, you ask? My husband is extremely jealous of this relationship. Of course he doesn't hold it against his skin daughter. He holds Clio responsible and calls her 'traitor dog' for the duration of their stay and threatens to send her home with them when they go. This of course is not a threat to Jamie, she loves Clio. It's more of a threat to me. One benefit that Steve seems to enjoy is that he knows that for the nights Jamie sleeps in the spare room downstairs, he won't have a 60 pound dog laying on his feet until they are numb.
Jamie and Clio have always had a special relationship. Clio came to live with us two weeks before Riley was born and so Riley and Clio have kind of 'grown up together' even though they live 100 miles away and we only see them once a month or so. When we go somewhere that we can't take Clio with us, she stays with Jamie and her husband. Jamie takes her to the coffee shack for a latte and a milk bone every morning. Jamie has always been like an 'other mother' to Clio and I would never want that to end.
I wish my husband would just get over it. If by some chance Clio does 'ask' my husband for something while Jamie is here, he just looks at her and says "Why don't you ask your Jamie? You like her better anyway." I know he's really just kidding but I wonder how it affects both Jamie and Clio for him have this attitude.
Any suggestions, ideas, or comments are more than welcome, especially if any of you have a boxer with loyalties outside the immediate family.
Leta
