Pregnant and worried

[Joan and Rags]

I am six months pregnant and the reality of it all is beginning to set in. I am worried that Rags will be needy and/or jealous and I won't be able to give her the attention she needs or is used to. I was thinking of getting a dog walker. Then that makes me feel guilty. Any suggestions?

[Julie B.]

You'll love having your dog around when your baby gets to high chair stage. You will never have to pick up one cheerio, cracker, pea, carrot, macaroni.... etc. That is when my dogs really became my kid's best friend!

[2m42srv7vi6sq]

As a mother that had dogs, before kids, I can tell you that the dogs adapt...as do the kids.

My mother used to tell me that my kids would never survive babyhood because they crawled around, on the floor where dogs had walked and stole the dogs' milk bones. I finally relented and bought my daughter her own box of Milk Bones for large dogs. She preferred them to Zwieback and other teething biscuits.

Now our children are 35, 31 and 30, with children and dogs of their own. (BTW, none of my children has ever had a cavity) They don't worry about the dog hair, germs or kisses because they realize that they survived and their children will thrive in the same loving, dog-filled atmosphere.