October 9, 2015

White Dog was almost as angry as Steve.

First Nilla came in bleeding from the back of her ear. We hoisted her up onto the bed and cleaned the area. It was a tooth nick.

THEN we heard poor Benson out in the yard squealing as a distinctive demanding woo punctuated his distress. Steve took off through the house to the yard and yanked our Darkest White Dog off of her brother's chest where she had him pinned and her mouth clamped around his throat.

"What the dog?" I muttered to WD as we watched from inside. She bolted through the dog door to add her leader of the pack authority.

Steve came back inside dragging a not at all contrite Zsofia and snapped her leash on her. She was now a prisoner of my desk. "YOU, LITTLE MISS, are in time-out. Maybe forever!" He was red in the face and very upset.

Benson ran in and climbed into my lap. "Please check him over to make sure he is not hurt," Steve asked as he glared at Zso. Calm, peace loving, submissive Benson was shaken up but was not wounded. I cradled him like a baby as I gently brushed his belly and ruff of dirt and spittle. And made soothing noises.

"So?" I asked looking at Steve and then White Dog. "What just happened?"

Steve took a deep breath. "My baby just caught and killed a bird. The others were curious and got too close. She was defending HER trophy. This kind of aggression is NOT acceptable. Killing birds is bad but I WILL NOT let her attack the others. On the bright side, she DID drop it when I told her to."

"Dad was awesomely fear-evoking," Puff, who was out there the entire time, whispered. "I never heard him speak so commandingly."

"OK White Dog Army," I summoned all together. "We do not do aggression here. Not food aggression. Not possession aggression. NONE!" I moved into the office and held Zsofia's face so she had to look at my face. "Until we can all treat each other with respect there are going to be some new rules: No treats at Candace's house. I will tell her about this incident and she will understand. You may only have treats or eat when dad and I are here to keep watch and make sure that no one gets too greedy."

"Thanks a lot, Zso," Sachi whined. "Hold on little man do not be so fast to blame. YOU are the one who goes in the bathtub after meals so that you do not steal food from the slower eaters," I told him. Steve looked over the Army. "None of you is big enough or stubborn enough to want to get momma as mad as I am. She will reach into your mouths and take what you have stolen away even if she has to reach all the way down to your stomach. Believe me, you don't want that."

"Zsofia, you will stay in time-out until AFTER breakfast! Yes, you will eat last. And you do not get to share in the human breakfast bites. No complaining, you brought this on!" She slumped to the ground, resigned but not truly sorry.

White Dog indicated that she had something to add. "Zsofia Marie, I expect you to make amends with both Benson and Nilla. You best treat them with uber kindness and mean it! AND you better pray to the Universe that your sister's ear heals without problems."

She looked pointedly at Zso, then Sachi, then YoYoMa (who gets sucked into scuffles with Zsofia), and finally Bella (who growls just to try to intimidate Puff)..."Honestly, you are starting to act like humans! We are better than that. WE are the White Dog Army...get your poop together!"