When we dogs own humans – and there are more than one of us in a household, there is a barking order. I’m not calling it a pecking order – that’s for chickens. With us dogs, it's a barking order. Often the oldest dog in the house is the “top dog.” Well not REALLY. The human is always the “TOP top dog.” Or at least they think they are.
In our house, Paxton was the oldest. And Frodo totally respected Paxton. There was never so much as a grumble between them. Then I came along…. And I tried very hard at times to be the “top dog.” I was sometimes bossy with Paxton. Who tolerated my nonsense. Now I feel kind of badly that I was bossy with him…
Frodo on the other hand, has never tolerated ANY nonsense from me. If I attempt to challenge him, he can flip me over and grumble LOUDLY IN MY FACE before I can even blink. And then the disagreement is over. And we lick and make up. Well. I lick. Frodo shakes himself off and walks away. But the interesting thing – Frodo NEVER starts these wrestling matches. EVER. It has always been yours truly. Always.
Well now that Paxton is gone…things are different. Very different. For example… Frodo likes to go to the big bin where the dog food is kept. And he balances on two legs trying desperately to get a mouthful of food. At which point my human shouts “Stop” and he gets down and walks away. Or she pulls him away.
The day before yesterday, Frodo attempted his acrobatic food stealing. My human told him to stop. Which he did. And THEN, yours truly decided to try that trick. I’ve never done it before. Well. Frodo warned me to stop. And he warned me to stop again. And THEN he MADE me stop. Frodo has NEVER ever started a disagreement with me. I think he is trying to let me know that he is now the “top dog.” And I had better learn to respect that. The disagreement lasted 2.7 seconds. Point well taken.
Frodo is also doing other things. For example, Paxton always used to lie next to my human. If she was reading, working on the computer, eating a meal - Paxton was THERE. And Frodo has always been a dog who wants to be in the same ROOM as my human – but he has never stuck to her like glue. Except now that has changed too. He is like Velcro. It fact, I think that's what I'll call him from now on. Velcro.
It’s challenging, because I just don’t know what the rules are now. Nobody gave me the revised Operations Manual. I’m sure I’ll learn what to do. But my goodness, this is tough. Good thing I’m such a flexible kind of guy. I sure need to be flexible right now. Just call me Gumby.
© Linda Wozniak
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