Woman Buys A Crib And Decorates Nursery To Welcome The Arrival Of Her New 'Baby'

When Joyce (who asked that her last name not be included) lost her dog in 2013, she was devastated. After a while, she wanted to welcome a new dog into her life, but unfortunately, there was just never a good time to do it. 

“It happened in the middle of law school, and between finishing up school, starting my career, working too many hours and my first home having no yard, I didn't think it was fair to get a dog yet — as much as I wanted to,” Joyce told The Dodo. 

Over the past few years though, things started falling into place. Joyce started working fewer hours and bought a home with a yard. She was starting to think she was ready to start looking into adopting a dog — and that’s when she saw a post from Golden Gate Labrador Retriever Rescue about a litter of puppies who needed loving homes. 

“I sent in my inquiry and by Sunday morning, the listing was closed due to a high volume of interest,” Joyce said. “After a few more weeks of anticipation and many interviews, I was chosen.” 

When Joyce found out she was going to be adopting Harry, she was absolutely elated and immediately started trying to get the house ready for her new arrival. She only had a week to prepare, and while she really wanted Harry to have a room all his own where she could store all of his stuff, there wasn’t time to do it up the way she really wanted to. 

As soon as Harry arrived, Joyce fell head over heels in love with her new dog. It was the perfect match right from the start. Harry fit perfectly into his new home, but Joyce still felt like she hadn’t fully completed her duty as a mom because his room was only ever half-finished. Finally, in March 2020, when the pandemic started and she had a lot more time on her hands, Joyce decided to finish what she started — and set about making Harry his very own nursery. 

“Between puppyhood and work, his nursery upstairs was always half-finished,” Joyce said. “Enter the pandemic of March 2020, and I started working from home full-time. One of the extra downstairs guest rooms was filled with junk and quite the eyesore. Since Harry's bathtub was in that room (it's a full bedroom suite) and the room had a walk-in closet (he was quickly outgrowing the one upstairs), it just clicked that I should get rid of all the junk in that room and make it Harry's room! His toys were also all over the place, and I thought this would give him a great little space that's just his.” 

The project was actually a huge undertaking because Joyce wanted to do it right. She wanted Harry’s nursery to be absolutely perfect. Between clearing everything out of the room, painting, decorating and setting everything up, the full project ended up taking about a year — but the result was absolutely incredible. 

Now, Harry has a nursery that many human babies would probably be jealous of. It’s a space all his own, and he absolutely loves it. 

“It was almost an organizational thing for me in the beginning (keeping his clothes, toys and everything else in the same place), but he just loves it,” Joyce said. “He's fully aware of what ‘Harry's Room’ is, and often sits outside the door of his room, waiting to go in. Most of his toys are in there, and Harry is the biggest fan of toys!”

Now, Harry’s room is a huge part of his daily routine. He takes a nap there every day from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., all snuggled up in his crib. At night before bedtime, Harry goes into his closet to change into his pajamas, reads a book with mom and then gets cozy in his crib again for a good night’s sleep. His mom has a camera set up in case he needs anything during the night. After all, every nursery needs a baby monitor, right? 

While setting up an entire nursery just for a dog might seem like a lot, for Joyce, it just made sense — and no one in her life was even the least bit shocked about it. 

“People who know me personally know how badly I've always wanted a dog, so most weren't even that surprised — it was an ‘of course you made him a nursery’ reaction,” Joyce said. 

Joyce waited so long to adopt a dog again, and once Harry came into her life, she didn’t want to take a single moment for granted. She wants him to have every single thing he could ever want, and if that means treating him like her son, she’s completely OK with that.