How Much is That Doggie in the Window?

Our family has expanded by two new members. We are the proud owners of two French Bulldogs. They are older and more sedate (ok, lazy) than most dogs I have known which is a good thing, given the Mud Puddle’s reaction to them.
Part of the reason we got the dogs was 1. The Mud Puddle is not going to have any siblings and 2. We are dog people and think that the earlier you have dogs the more comfortable you are around them.

He is still not sure how he feels about the dogs in reality. In theory, he loves them, wants to play with them and can’t wait to see them. In reality, he has whined to me when they touch him, sniff him, lick his foot and look at him. Am I honestly expected to control where the dogs look??

And they are great dogs, when he is bombing around the house jumping on furniture and hooting and hollering, they just kind of look at him with a certain amount of curiosity. But they can’t be bothered to get up and follow him.
They don’t have tails for him to step on which is good thing I guess, but he won’t get within ten feet of them so at this point it doesn’t matter.

He is pretty jealous of the attention that they get. I knew there would be some ‘sibling rivalry’ and hope that it is short lived. I can’t not show the dogs affection. I am a dog person and this is how we act around dogs. Get down on their level and pet and scratch behind their ears and necks and tell them what good dogs they are. And guess what? They don’t talk back! Not an ounce of sass coming out of their mouths (Cooper has some foul smelling gas coming out the other end but Walter has cornered the Farting Dog Market so I won’t get into that).

From my point of view, the dogs are a welcome addition to our family. I swear I can feel my blood pressure going down when they are around.
Cooper (the white one) is the most loved up dog I have ever met. He is just all about getting scratched behind the ears and sitting as close as possible (preferably on) to someone.
He does this sighing thing where he snarfs and snorts like a pig. I have always wanted a pet pig so this is probably as close as I am going to get.
Cassidy is a little more independent and definitely the boss.

If you remember the movie “Gremlins” Cooper is what the Gremlin was like before midnight (in looks and disposition)- all sweet and cuddly and soft, while Cass is definitely the ‘you broke the rules and got it wet, fed it after midnight (and by the way, what was the cut off time on that rule, they said ‘after midnight’ but isn’t anytime technically AFTER midnight? Was it from midnight to six? And were these rules written down somewhere for easy reference? See, these are the things you think about when you have seen a movie more than three times). She looks a little like the mean Gremlin, if I am being honest. But she is a sweet girl and has begun to warm up to me (especially my leg. Female dogs love to hump my leg, not sure why, it is just a fact of life).
I am sure that Joshua will eventually love the dogs as much as I do and realize that dogs in general are just a wonderful part of your life. Until he comes around though, it will be interesting to watch him navigate their waters.