It's a dog eat dog world....

That's actually kind of a scary idiom when you think about it. Anyway, in our house there are two adults (my wife and I), our daughter Sophia, and our dog; we’ll call her Zoie in an effort to protect the innocent. So, from my daughter’s point of view, of the inhabitants of our house, including her herself, the humans “should” solidly outweigh the animals. Yet, remarkably, I’m noticing more and more that Zoie seems to be resident mentor and role model of our toddler.
First it was the chewing, which I assumed was normal for teething babies (although, I’m not really sure how biting with what few teeth you have into a wood coffee table can make your teeth feel any better) and had started customarily with simple teething toys, but soon moved onto books, the dogs chew toys, and periodicals. She is now the proud owner of several books that look like, you guessed it, a puppy had the greatest day of its life chewing on.
Once she became bored of the dog’s chew toys and the taste of cardboard, she started to notice that the dog had ownership of a second classification of toys. Round toys. Soon Sophia began hunting down rubber balls, hockey balls, dryer balls and every other ball imaginable (that belonged to the dog), despite having ridiculous amounts of her own toxic plastic toys from China. On several occasions, she would even take a rubber ball right from Zoie and put it directly into her own mouth. Yum!
So far, nothing out of the ordinary, right? I mean, someone might try and make a correlation between my child’s behavior and the dog, but most would certainly discount it as normal toddler actions. Well, further evidence of my daughter’s canine copying, she now finds herself a comfortable spot to lay down in the dog’s bed when I close her in the bedroom with me. She used to enjoy the “human” bed, but now feels perfectly content curling up in a hair filled, Styrofoam filled, plaid floor fixture. And on most nights we’ll put her in her pjs, give her a bottle, and then let her play for a few minutes before putting her to bed. Typically, during that time she’ll seek out her boo boo bear and if it’s downstairs, carry it around for a bit before we put her down. Otherwise, boo boo bear is already in the crib where she greets it, immediately hugs it and proceeds to tuck it under herself to keep it warm though the night, dare I say like a dog to her newborn puppies? Or dare I say exactly like Zoie does with her boo boo blanket when she knows we are going out???? Scooping it up, whining a bit, and then laying on top of it as we leave the room and lock the front door. Hmmm...two sweetpeas in a pod. At one point, Sophia was even taking the dog’s blanket as her own, much to the chagrin of Zoie who was forced to relocate when she saw Sophia coming, lest she become another climbing toy or the recipient of a full weight body slam.
Again, chewing on dog toys and laying down on dog beds is probably something that most babies from households with dogs will attempt at some point in time (I hope), but I would argue that one of my daughter’s newest “talents” is probably something even a little more unique. Maybe I’m giving my daughter’s observational skills a little too much credit, but she has now proceeded to enter a full squat, tail up position when doing #2. Maybe #1 too, I dunno, but definitely #2, just like “you know who”. Now, I know I’ve never squatted like that for #1 or #2 (not that I’d be willing to admit to anyone anyway) and I’m sure my wife hasn’t either (at least in front of the baby) since she locks herself away for a good 20 minutes when it comes time. So where exactly is she picking this up (no pun intended)? I don't believe I have to look any further than her canine companion. , And if my hunch is correct, should we make an effort to potty train Zoie? Is this the answer to quick and painless potty training of Sophia? Doggie see, doggie doo? Or as an alternate path, do I continue encouraging this behavior, hopeful that she’ll start going #1 and 2 in the backyard (at least until she’s out of diapers, sparing me the expense) and barking at the Jehovah Witnesses that are so bothersome on weekends? What’s next eating off her plate without the use of her hands? Wait a minute…next? Uggh, ok, I’ll just call it all “quirky” for now, but I’m going to keep a watchful eye.