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Sibling Rivalry Run Amok

I've mentioned our Jack Russell Terrier, Max, in previous posts. What I didn't mention is that in the lineup of the "pack", she definitely sees herself first in line after John and me. To her, the kids, although larger than her, are a total bother and take up way too much of our attention. When John gets after her, she trembles in fright and pees on the floor. When I fuss at her, she looks a little sad and quickly obeys. When one of the kids tries to direct her, she ignores them until they force her, and then she yips at them to say "You're not the boss of me".

One of the cardinal rules we "enforce" at our house is no dogs on the bed (note the picture--that's a bed). John detests dog hair, especially on his PJs and Eric has mild allergies, so we just don't allow her to sleep with us. She regularly tests this rule, but when she hears John's footsteps, she hops off the bed and gets busy with something else all innocent-like. When she hears me, she stands on the bed, ready to jump off, but waits until I tell her to get down.

Well last night, Eric came up to crawl in our bed around 2am after a bad dream. The dog began to paw and whine at the bed, as if she had to go to the bathroom. This is very unusual for her, as she has never asked to go out in the middle of the night. After ignoring her for about 30 minutes, I got up and let her out. No sooner had I gotten back in bed, she began behaving in the same way. I tried to shut it out for another hour or so, telling her to "go night-night" but she persisted. I got up around 3:30, tried to let her out, and she wandered around the kitchen not wanting to go outside. I checked her water and food dishes and found both of them fine. I returned to bed and the pawing and whining began again. John woke up, groggily wondering what in the world was wrong with the dog. It suddenly hit me that she either wanted up with us since Eric was getting to snuggle, or she wanted Eric out of the bed.

John woke Eric up and walked him back to his own bed, and what do you know? Max slept peacefully till morning!

Comments

Rochelle said…
Awwwww...he was jealous! I am very sympathetic to his plight! Luca (our weimeraner) is not allowed on the beds either...but every once in a while I ask Ian if he'll change his mind about that...so far it is a firm "No!"
3/21/2006 7:53 AM
Anonymous said…
That is too funny! Tiffany, since she does not shed and weighs all of four pounds, does sleep on top of our bed, unless it is cold she just stays at the foot of the bed on top of the covers, you wouldn't even know she is there. But if she were big, or did shed, she wouldn't be there either!
3/22/2006 12:59 AM
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