It was nice while it lasted

Cara's been the top dog/head honcho/queen supreme at our house for the past 11 years. She was our little fur child and we babied her to no end. She always slept in our bed, got to eat all sorts of table scrapes, came on all road trips with us and generally just got all of our attention. People were constantly asking us how we thought Cara would react once we brought a baby into her world. Cara has never been particularly fond of children (that's putting it mildly) but we figured that she would just learn to love little Scott or Rebecca Jr. Turns out that she is actually great with Lily - she sits next to her and licks her hands or her face. She doesn't much care for Lily's crying fits but she has never exhibited any aggression towards her and in fact, she once growled at my friend when she came to pick Lily up out of the bassinet. While we are thrilled that Cara is learning to love Lily, it seems that Cara has realized that she has no other choice. I'm sad to report that Cara seems to be aware that she is no longer the favorite and has been demoted in our house and in our hearts. I still love Cara and am happy that we have her but I've come to realize that she's just a dog. And as one of our friends so eloquently stated, "it's ok for a dog to just be a dog".