The Dog Who Wouldn't Wean

by Alison Gaul

When I became pregnant with our first child, my husband and I worried about how our sensitive dog Justice would cope with the arrival of a newcomer into our family. We were concerned about "sibling rivalry" and about him being gentle with the baby. Much to our surprise, these worries were unfounded. Justice seemed to bond with our baby "in utero" by rubbing his head up against my burgeoning belly and singing to it in the way that only Siberian Huskies, wolves and wookies do. Our baby would kick and wiggle inside me during this daily serenade. I knew then that they would be best friends and share many happy memories together. However, I didn't know exactly how much they intended to share.

During my pregnancy I developed Pre-eclampsia and spent the last two weeks hospitalized on complete bed rest until I was induced at 38 weeks gestation. With great joy I delivered a beautiful baby girl we named Grace. She was perfect in every way. I caressed her beautiful soft face and stared into her big blue eyes and fell madly in love. My world was complete. Unfortunately, when I offered her my breast she wouldn't nurse. Nevertheless, I was determined to breastfeed and so I began to pump...and pump...and pump. Grace and I continued to have difficulties even when we came home. That first at-home nursing session in our bedroom produced many tears - for her, for me and for our dog that was trying to break down the bedroom door to "rescue" the baby by licking her face and wagging his tail. As time went by we developed a beautiful breastfeeding relationship with the help and support of my wonderful husband and some excellent lactation consultants. An overabundant milk supply, an over-active let-down reflex, flat nipples, clogged ducts and nipple confusion were all eventually overcome. We needed nipple shields, an electric pump and the supplemental nursing system but Grace never had a drop of anything but my breastmilk. We spent many hours on the most comfortable chair in our living room pumping and nursing until we got it right. It was then that Justice developed a taste for my breastmilk.

Inevitably, with the two hour pumping and nursing schedule we were keeping, a container of milk spilled on the floor. Bleary eyed and weary I let it sit until our nursing session was done when Justice rushed in for the clean-up job. After enthusiastically lapping it up, he started begging for more. When the howling and panting didn't encourage me to part with any or to let him suckle, he took to "stalking" me. He would wait down the hall until I had placed a freezer bag of milk on the coffee table and had placed Grace on my breast. Then, he would pounce on the bag and race to another room knowing full well that I couldn't pursue with the baby latched on. He ate three nipple shields, part of my breast pump, several nursing pads and countless ounces of breastmilk. Grace's first big laughs were while nursing and watching the dog's antics.

After several weeks I started becoming exhausted. The constant nursing, the lack of sleep and the never-ending, well-meaning advice of friends, relatives and strangers started to irritate me. I received a can of unsolicited formula in the mail and started telling those around me how angry I was with the manufacturer. As the others launched into their testimonials about the benefits of formula and bottle feeding I calmly went to the kitchen and prepared some formula for Justice in a bowl. I placed it on the floor in clear view of everyone. We watched him sniff it. Then we watched him walk away. I sat down to pump and Justice immediately ran over to beg at my feet. It is well known that Justice will eat "anything". He regularly dines on garbage, road kill and unidentifiable, rotten objects in the yard. Even so, my dog won't eat formula. Neither will my baby.

Today, Grace is six months old and still loves to breastfeed. She has also started eating a little bit of rice cereal mixed with breast milk. Justice lurks under her high chair, hoping that a few errant spoonfuls will fall his way. Both of them are happy, healthy and learning to share.