Dog Protocol

After 13 days of withdrawal, Mandy's mother-in-law and my wife went to PetsMart where a rescue org was showing their clients.

They found 3 dogs. I quickly eliminated the long white haired one because it sheds. The second was a puppy (8 weeks I think) and I was apprehensive (but not so much to argue against). The third was a Yorkie that was a year and a half old. I agreed that the pup would probably make a good pet and she agreed to let me name him.

I chose the name "Newbie" because there was something about Newbie Yorkie that amused my simple (and slightly bent) mind.

Anyway, this post isn't about that. Not with a title like "Dog Protocol".

Here's the interesting thing. My daughter is on holiday in Colorado so we're babysitting the grand dog. As a quick history you probably need to know that Maggie (Mandy's dog) was quick to tear little chunks off of our last dog (15 year old and grumpy) from time to time. We assumed Maggie was a bit intolerant with other dogs.

So here's the protocol stuff. The pup did at least three things that we assumed would be followed by a swift lesson from Maggie. The first was growling at Maggie as she approached the dog bowl. The second was standing on the couch, towering over Maggie, who isn't allowed on the couch (Mandy's rules not ours but we enforce them) and barking when Maggie got close. Finally, in the the most significant and daring display of all, Newbie ran across the room and as she rocketed by Maggie she grabbed one of Maggie's ears and used it to slingshot to a stop.

Result number one (dog bowl growl) - Michelle and I were both in the middle of that one right away so if I say Maggie didn't "let him have it" it would be true but maybe because of the intervention of a higher power.

Result number two (taking a dominant stance from the couch). The first time this happened we stopped it right away but Newbie was up and down (perpetual motion, that one) and he seemed to like the game of getting into Maggie's face from above her. Each iteration Michelle and I did less and less to stop it. Maggie was wagging her tail and the fight never happened.

The third was the most amazing to me. The puppy was running around the house. Sometimes racing past Maggie who didn't seem to react much then it happened so quickly I could do little more than watch. Newbie shot past the chair and as he rocketed by Maggie he grabbed one of her ears and held on well enough to stop his momentum. The ear hold spun him around so he was nose to nose with Maggie as he stopped. He let go of the ear and Maggie began swinging her tail wildly and quickly stuffed her nose into his butt.

All I can say is that's now how it worked with Tia.

I'm thinking there must be some kind of "I'm just playing so don't kill me" smell that comes out of a puppy's butt. I've thought it over and that's the logical conclusion.