Top dog?
Updated: Feb 4, 2021
So who is top dog in The Bloghouse?
Well in theory it should be me as the chief dispenser of food, treats, walks, cuddles and all things exciting, but there are times when I contemplate the minute sofa space left to me...and I wonder!
It is Lola who has long been at the peak of the dog hierarchy (have a look at our Home Team page for her back story, and the other dogs too). People often assume it is always the most extrovert, noisiest, dog who leads but in this house and all the others I know, it is the quiet calm sensible dog who is really in control...with little fuss and gentle authority.
I always find it interesting that puppies are far more awed by a telling off by their pack leader, than being told off by humans,
and do wonder exactly what it is they "say".
Sadly, Lola is growing older and has recently become very unwell, so we have watched with a heavy heart as she has abdicated from the top dog role.
The other dogs remain respectful but there is definitely a power vacuum and everyone is competing.
Which does have its funny side.
Charlie, our clown, is a spaniel of very little brain...and even less common sense. He is pretty much at the bottom end of the pack structure, and clings to his hard won sofa spot (on my feet!) with grim determination.
His power grab has so far included rounding up all the nylabones he can find and hiding them under the table, attempting to beat both the dachshunds and myself to the preferred sofa spots, and launching himself unexpectedly into my lap when I was eating a bowl of cereal.
The resultant telling off appears to have dashed his delusions of grandeur!
Which theoretically leaves two dachshunds vieing for position. No surprise really that these huge hearted lions in small bodies would like to take control. Norman is certainly calm enough, and has been exercising his grumpy bone at allcomers to his place on the sofa, in the last few days.
The Cookie Monster is a fast developing teen, and in the world of the blind the dog with a miniscule amount of vision is king....or queen in this instance. She certainly runs rings around Charlie with toys, and long since claimed the prize of sleeping under my chin.....an increasingly uncomfortable practice as she has grown to be an an 8kg weight, making her a very oversized Miniature or an under weight Standard.
But much to Cookies' disgust, she is currently outdone by our resident foster dog, Pepper.
An IVDD girl, lucky to have regained mobility and continence, Pepper is 11 years old, with only two teeth. Quietly, over the last week, she has manouvred herself to sit closest to me in the garden or kitchen, seems to have acquired the choicest bed (all four are the same! I have NO idea why one of them is "best").
With the added advantage of having two functioning eyes.
Game over!.
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