October 12, 2017

White Dog snorted when Steve picked up Sachi and commented, "Wow! You smell really nice." "Ask him WHY he has become a Lavender Sachet," she suggested.

"Oh-oh," Steve said sitting down with the Little Man. "Sounds like there is a story here."

For no good reason Sachi randomly chose poor sweet Nilla as a target. All day he hounded her and went out of his way to be unkind. Nilla does not provoke. She does not dominate. She is gentle and unassuming. She yields rather than embroils herself in conflict. Peace-loving Nilla is sometimes, White Dog tells her, too nice.

Sachi was asleep on the couch when Nilla woke from her nap in the office and came into the living room to see what was happening. The moment she entered the room, Sachi jumped off of the couch and ran over to nip her on her flank. And he chased her from the room later by trying to mount her as she spun in circles to avoid his advances. He was unrelenting.

For times of misbehavior that cannot be redirected positively and is met with no remorse, I keep a squirt bottle filled with water scented in calming lavender. Usually just showing the bottle diffuses the situation but today Sachi stubbornly...several different times...refused to back down from his Nilla meanness. I actually had to blast him with the spray to get his attention.

And at treat time when he took Nilla's jerky from her mouth he stood and growled his defiance... earning him a drippy face as well as being put in time out. He screamed his demands for a lawyer and media coverage of the injustice while Nilla enjoyed her replacement treat in peace.

After, Nilla curled up next to my feet and flinched each time Sachi walked past...and he made a point of sauntering the length of the room pausing in front of her (and giving momma the evil eye) several times before hopping back on the couch and proudly settling on the pillows. White Dog shook her head at him. "Brother, you are pushing the limits today. It is not cute. It is not nice. It is not macho. Now get a grip and behave yourself!" He curled his lip and turned his back. I gently touched WD's collar. "Ignore him. He hates that."

Steve listened to the recounting of the day and turned The Little Brat to face him. "Sachi, you know that we do not treat each other like that. Let us hope you have worked through your inner demon and will be nice the rest of the evening, otherwise you will have to go off by yourself."

"Geez, I thought lavender was supposed to be calming," Steve said to me. "It smells like he was dipped into it and yet." White Dog answered. "Imagine how out of control he might have been without it!"

Above the law because EVERYBODY loves the Lavender Sachi man!