When Denny Ku and his wife brought their newborn baby, Koa, home for the first time, they didn’t know how their dog, Lilo, would react. The 8-year-old corgi was used to being an only child, and she didn’t really show interest in her sibling during her mom’s pregnancy.
“We didn’t have any sweet moments where Lilo would lay on my wife’s belly or follow her around,” Ku told The Dodo. “It was almost as if she knew she had to share the attention and wanted some space.”
At first, Lilo greeted her brother with a ton of kisses, as she’s known to do with every person she meets.
“But then at one point, Lilo realized this person was here to stay,” Ku said. “She didn’t know how to interact with Koa, so she mainly co-existed with him for the first couple of days.”
The Kus worried that Lilo would continue to not interact with him much as time went on, until one day when Ku found a ball in Koa’s bouncer and Lilo whining at her baby brother.
Her parents laughed as they tried to explain to the hopeful pup that Koa couldn’t play fetch just yet, but Lilo didn’t understand them.
“So from time to time, instead of bringing us the toy or object, she would just bring it to Koa,” Ku said.
You can watch Lilo bring Koa her toys here:
Before long, Lilo had introduced her brother to every toy in her collection. Then, she decided to teach him that anything could be a toy if he wanted it to be.
On top of bringing him her favorite stuffies, Lilo started placing things like toilet paper rolls and her parents’ slippers on top of Koa.
No matter what it was, Lilo would drop the coveted toy in her sleeping brother’s lap and gently nudge it upwards with her nose to get his attention. Then she’d sit in front of him and wait.
“Lilo stares so intently at Koa like, ‘He’s going to throw it any minute now!’” Ku said.
Since 2-month-old Koa is still too young to interact with Lilo, Ku makes sure to throw the toy for the enthusiastic dog to chase every time she wants to play.
But Lilo takes her babysitting job seriously, so when she’s not bringing him toys, the doting pup can usually be found sleeping near her brother.
“She has so many beds, but would rather sleep on the floor near the bouncer or bassinet,” Ku said. “We hope that snuggling is in their future.”
Lilo’s still got some time to wait before Koa will be big enough to interact with her, but one thing’s for sure: The happy pup can’t wait for her brother to finally pick up one of her toys and throw it with all his might.
Until then, she’ll continue to enjoy her role as big sister as she shows her baby brother the ropes on the most important thing in life: playtime.
