Our Sassy Nanny

St. Bernards are called the "nannies" of the dog world (think Nana in Peter Pan), and Sassy is slowly growing accustomed to this role. She'll let Topher pet her from time to time now, and anytime he is on the stairs, she will run up and down repeatedly until he is safely at the top or bottom (we think she's nervous, and rightly so, when Topher is attempting to improve his stair skills.) Topher's learning his animal sounds and in this video Sassy steps in to help him out when he gets stumped:

We also recently discovered the fun of feeding treats to Sassy. Unfortunately, Sassy is very weary of taking food from Topher (probably because she usually gets yelled at for doing just that.) What's funny here is that Topher is starting to give me an ear-full when he wants something. He'll spout off a list of sounds that I'm sure is meant to voice some very specific demands, but it all comes out as jibber-jabber. The feet stomping adds a little extra emphasis to said demands. Ah, toddlers.

The best thing about our nanny is that she has started "looking out" for Topher, preferring to be in the same room as him (at a reasonably safe distance) while he plays.

Thanks, Sassy, for tolerating Topher even when he's a little loud and a little rough. You're such a good dog.

--KC