The Miller Family: February 2009

For those of you who don't know, we have two dogs. There is Sammy- the old grouchy Cocker Spaniel who loves little Gerry to death. And then there is Max- our new Pom puppy. Well, he is really my puppy. He is still quite annoying so the rest of the family brings him to me when they have had enough of him. For being old and grouchy, Sammy has had a lot of patience with Max. However, there is one domain he is not willing to share- the toys. Sammy is the keeper of the toys. And as long as Sammy is guarding the toy, Max wants it. Max isn't as interested in toys that are left unguarded. There is one toy in particular that they fight over viciously. It is Sammy's favorite, so of course Max makes it his life goal to get it from Sammy. There is lots of barking and growling with the occasional lashing out. Once, Sammy actually made Max scream with his vicious lashing out while protecting this toy.

In the best interests of Max's life and Sammy's sanity and all of our ears, I decided to invest in another coveted red squeaky ball. We brought it home today and promptly gave it to Sammy. We gave the other to Max and let them go their separate ways with their precious, identical toys. About 45 minutes later, Sammy discovered the ruse. He managed to trick Max into leaving his red ball unguarded and swiped it. And now he is guarding BOTH red squeaky balls. I think that I am going to loose my mind soon!