The Adventures of the Little Black Dog: A Princess & A Bully

The little black dog is used to being an only child but he typically thinks everyone is a friend--human or canine.  Then the princess came along and upset his apple cart.

My sister travels a lot for her job and at the last minute, she had to go to Iowa for two weeks, which meant her dog--the princess--had to go somewhere.  Usually she's stuck at my parents outside on a forty foot cable but this time, she's here with the roommate, the little black dog and me. 

Initially he was sooooooo excited to have a visitor...but then she wasn't following the rules.  He knows that if he wants one of us to share french fries with him, then he better not whine.  He sits at the feet of whomever has the food looking as handsome as he can and waits.  He typically gets a bite...or two.  The princess is a whiner.

At first, he would just give her this look when she whined.  You know the look, it's the one that one kid gives another when the actions of one kiddo is about to get them both in trouble.  But she didn't understand the look and so he had to tell her about it!  Lots of barking.  His basset side makes him quite the talker.

She caught on quickly and all has been well.  Then enter the bully.

We rent a house and the house next door is also maintained by the same agency.  Early this morning, the maintenance  guys arrived to tackle the long to-do list that I sent them a few weeks ago. One item on the list--repairing the fence between our two yards but the neighbor's dog was in his backyard.  Something had to be done with her for the repairs to take place.

My roommate is a regular dog whisperer and she offered to watch her until the fence was back in place.  Things went downhill from there because she's a bully.

The little black dog had already had some issues with her.  She used to share her yard with a female rottie who was his Juliet.  They would stick their noses under the fence in mutual adoration.  The bully would push Juliet out of the way to get his attention.  He did not like that.

And now she was in his house...with his mama and the princess and his toys!  My roommate equated the experience with watching three toddlers.  The bully would push between the little black dog and his mama; that would prompt a disagreement.  The roommate would have to pull the two of them apart while the princess watched from the safety of the couch.

Finally the bully returned to her own yard and LBD and the Princess were ready for a nap.  I don't see any play dates in their future.

The Little Black Dog

The Princess