Are You My Baby

One evening my family and I arrived home after being gone all day to the lake. Usually our family dogs, Tiny and Petey, greet us at the door wagging their tails in desperate need of attention. This time only Petey was waiting for us. After we unpacked our belongings, I started looking for Tiny. To my surprise, she was sleeping in my baby sister's bed. She had scratched at the cover until she could get under it, and then curled up by Anna Grace's pillow. I did not realize until then Tiny's maternal instinct toward Anna Grace.

Tiny is about ten years old and as we know, that would make her around seventy in "dog years." She has had many litters of puppies, and as she has gotten older she has had many false pregnancies. A false pregnancy in a dog is where the dog has the same symptoms and signs as if she were really pregnant. The dog gains weight, produces milk, and when it is time for her puppies, she makes a bed to have them in. The difference in a true pregnancy and a false pregnancy is that in a false pregnancy the dog does not give birth to puppies. Tiny and Anna Grace have a mutually beneficial relationship. After Tiny's many experiments with motherhood, she thinks that it is her obligation to protect Anna Grace. In addition, Anna Grace loves every bit of Tiny's attention.

It all started when my baby sister was born. There were endless hours of waking up in the middle of the night, fixing bottles, and changing diapers. Every time Anna Grace cried, Tiny was right there barking until she was quiet again. If Anna Grace was in the tub, Tiny was standing up looking over into it. When Anna Grace played in the floor with her toys, Tiny would lay on the floor beside her. Tiny was like Anna Grace's second mother except she was not human.

Tiny and Anna Grace not only have a mother-daughter kind of relationship, but they also have a friendship. During the times they are around