I sense that Abu knows a change is a’coming.

He’s always been underfoot, but nowadays he just can’t leave me alone. I go to the bathroom and he’ll watch by the door. I go downstairs and he blocks my way as I navigate each step. Whenever people come by to visit, he is extra bark-y but settles down when I assure him that everything’s okay. At night, he insists to sleep behind the crook of my leg as I lie down on my side. He protests when I take my 30 minute evening walk, making a racket as I pass by the gate.

I don’t know how to read his actions. Is he being overprotective? Is it anxiety?

This has caused me worry. Should I be scared that he’ll consider the baby competition and treat the new arrival with aggression? When the bedroom, his sanctuary, becomes off-limits to him all of a sudden make him feel like he was demoted in the hierarchy of his human pack? Will my pampered pooch be a different dog?

I hope it doesn’t get to the point we’d have to give him up.