We welcome (almost) all to our pack

Today, I found a great treat while doing my daily surf of top headlines. I found an article about how to introduce your dogs to the new baby. This is an important one to me since Mom and Mr. Food Boy have been discussing this lately.

Mauly has been on Mom's watch list since, there was a profile on her breed. The TV show wasn't too keen on the idea of Mauly's kind and little children. We'll see if Mauly can prove that wrong when our human cousin Rosa enters our home this week.

The article I pawed across today talks about how important it is for humans to keep a dog's routines while introducing the new bundle of joy into the household. I know Mom and Mr. Food Boy have been talking about routines a lot just in preparation of company.

"Mauly really needs a walk in the morning," Mr. Food Boy said. The extra walk will help keep her high energy in check (they hope). Otherwise, she might be a jumping, shedding beast.

"Yes, I'll walk her in the mornings," Mom promised. I heard her, so if Mom tries to back out of the arrangement, I'm telling Mr. Food Boy.

I love my Mom, but Mr. Food Boy has been kind enough to take me on evening walks in recent weeks. I'm loyal to him when it comes to walks. On other issues, I'm a little squirrelly if Mom is in the room. No point in lying about it.

The best news I read in the article about babies is a reminder that dogs (that's Mauly and me) shouldn't be punished or banished from a room when a baby arrives. That just gives us more reason to be jealous. Make us part of the experience by letting us sniff the baby's stuff and getting us used to a baby's scent.

When Mom's friend Julie and her boyfriend Mark came for a visit, we behaved OK. Granted we jumped a little too much and we probably licked them a little too much. Heck, we probably rubbed, leaned and sat on them too much.

Mauly and I like to think of ourselves as a friendly pack. We welcome all human creatures into our pack -- big ones and little ones. Of course, we might sniff them, lick them and (I'll be honest sometimes, I get excited and pee on their feet.

Introduce us slowly to a baby (or new people for that matter) and we're just fine. Of course, rule No. 1. NEVER, NEVER leave us alone in a room with the baby. That's just common sense.