I’ve mentioned a few times now that this summer we adopted a dog. The relationship started a bit tenuous, with the dog escaping multiple crates and destroying a laundry room door, to get back into the main portion of the house. It took a gigantic leap of faith from that point to give him run of the whole house, but he seems to be doing OK with it. He is simply not a fan of confinement.

While mom and dad had initial trust issues with the dog that we’ve worked through, Jamie took to the dog right away. He loves to pet him, and hug him, and shower him with attention. It’s that shower him with attention part that can come off a little suspect at times. Even the best intentions can miss wildly.

And Captain, a 2-year-old German Shepherd and hound mix, has displayed the patience of a saint, as my toddler learns everything you should and should not do to animals, or the right way and wrong way to show them affection. I’m sure the dog has his thoughts on the relationship, but it’s been a great experience.

There’s a special bond that develops between a kid and a dog and it’s been fun to watch. With me, I pet the dog, feed him, walk him and show him affection. The dog in turn stays by my side a large portion of the day, showing me his love.

But with my son, it’s a whole new level, and a symbiotic relationship developing between our two 2-year-olds. There are a lot of ways that dogs and toddlers can be mutually beneficial to each other.

Here are a few examples:

Mealtimes – We typically tell the dog to go lay down during mealtimes, and he does. But as the dog has become more acclimated to us, he knows who the messy eater is. He knows who is going to leave a trail of scraps and crumbs behind. As Jamie gets older he may even try to slip the dog some carrots or green beans at some point. Captain will figure out where to go for a quick people food score.

Dog food – Jamie is 2 now, so we can start to have a few things around the house that he is told not to touch. But there is a learning curve. Like Captain knows his people food, I’m pretty sure Jamie knows what dog food tastes like.

An animal to ride – Surprisingly Jamie hasn’t made this request yet, but I’m waiting for it. I’m waiting for an attempt. Captain’s bigger than Jamie, but he is not THAT much bigger. So, we’ll see.

Someone to blame stuff on – The other day I was getting Jamie ready to leave the house with Jamie. I asked him if he turned on the light. I saw it come on, but was in the next room over. “No, Captain did it,” was the response I received. We’ll see how well this works.

Hug – Jamie is not all that much taller than the dog. So when he wants to hug him, he throws his arms around the dogs head (sometimes a bit tightly) and cocks his head over the dog’s shoulders. Sometimes Jamie shows no preference for hugging the dog’s head, or the dog’s butt. We’re trying to teach him to avoid the business end for cleanliness purposes. This dog seems to have the patience of a saint.

Go running – Jamie loves to go running around the upstairs of our house. He now has a running partner. It’s pretty fun to watch them get worked up and energetic together.

Getting knocked over – While Captain seems pretty tolerant of Jamie’s transgressions, the feeling is not always mutual. When we get home in the evening the dog is hyper. He runs around the front room in circles. If he gets too close to Jamie, he can knock him over quite easily. Nothing worse than Jamie’s butt hitting the floor ever happens. But Jamie typically cries for a couple seconds, and then gets up to run around again.

An animal that likes to have his tummy rubbed – We also have a cat in the house. Jamie often wants to rub the cat’s belly, which can end up with a death scratch. With This one minor activity can help you win your way into Captain’s heart, quickly.

Mysterious puddles – We are in the process of potty training our 2-year-old. Thankfully the dog is housebroken and exceptionally good about going outside. I’m waiting for accidents to be blamed on Captain – even if Jamie is wearing the soggy, wet evidence.

Nice things – People with a toddler can’t have nice things. People with an energetic dog can’t have nice things. People with a toddler and a dog need to forget about having things in general. They just get broken and replaced and then broken again.

For those with dogs and toddlers, how do yours coexist? It’s been a fun relationship to see develop, that’s for sure.

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