Barking Mad

It seems that Lilac has a new nemesis in our house.  Both Mr. Taleteller and I have both had separate incidents of walking in and hearing Lilac giving someone a firm barking to.  The recipient of her wrath happens to be an innocent (as far as my husband and I can tell) dog bed. 

When I arrived home Monday night, I took the girls out as usual.  After a few minutes of privacy for them, I went out to bring them in.  In typical fashion, Lilac and Bunny had clean feet, but Blueberry was wearing mud galoshes.  So, I sent Bunny and mama dog in the house and Blueberry and I walked around the house to have a look at the new flowers.  It wasn't a long stroll, just down to the front corner where we have some Japanese irises planted by the stop sign and back to the door.  As we walked up, I could hear Lilac barking her displeasure from the back door.  I entered the house and found her barking at the dog bed.

As I told Mr. Taleteller the story, he laughed and shared a similar tale.  He said that when he gets home for lunch every day, there are three noses sticking up in the back kitchen window.  By the time he comes in the back door, Lilac is in the living room, barking at the bed.

I have no idea what the bed has done to make her so angry.  It doesn't appear to have any evil lumps or rolls in it.  It's easy to fluff.  They have nicely annointed it with a pleasant Ode de Greyhound, so it's not stinky.  The poor thing just lays there, taking her abuse.  I'm really at a loss as to what to do.  I don't want the poor bed to suffer some kind of complex.  This is something I never thought I'd have to worry about as a dog owner.  My greyhound is a bed terrorist!

Fluffer Nutter

I have mentioned one of Bunny's charming quirks before. What I have not mentioned is something that Blueberry does that often keeps us in stitches. Blueberry is a bed fluffer. If you live with a bed fluffer, then you know exactly what I am talking about and really need no further explanation. For those who do not know what I am referring to, I present the following video for your perusal and entertainment.

You may notice that Blueberry puts a lot of effort into the process of getting her bed fluffed just right. There can be no lumps or knots. It must be arranged in the most artful of positions. Sometimes the arrangement process can drag a bed across the room. Other times, one bed just isn't enough and she has to fluff two or even three at a time. You may also notice that after she went to the trouble of getting the bed fluffed, that it was simply too perfect a job to ruin by laying on it. The final result is always the same -- she fluffs the bed until she collapses from exhaustion. Sometimes that means she lays in the bed, sometimes that means she preserves her work for a later time. It doesn't matter if it was her bed or ours, fluffing is hard to do. Still, she has raised it to an art form, and art must be admired. You have to love living with an artiste!

Age and Wisdom Meets Youth and Beauty

A year ago when Bunny came to join our family, I was a bit surprised by her reaction to Lilac. Lilac is the oldest hound here in our house, and she was a brood mama to two litters of puppies. Usually, when she meets young dogs, she gives them a bit of discipline (one deep, serious bark, and I have no idea what she says in that one bark, but the youngsters always take it seriously) and then goes on her way, ignoring the young dog. She tends to avoid puppies and young dogs, perhaps because she feels she is done with that sort of nonsense now.


Of course, as soon as Bunny came here, she made herself completely at home. She made her introductions to Lilac and Hawk and after a tour of her new castle, the little princess needed a place to lay down. She looked around at the various dog beds scattered across the floor and decided to lay right next to Lilac on the big orthopedic dog bed. My husband was shocked. I was shocked. Lilac was stunned. Another dog was laying down next to her?! She didn't growl or curl up a lip, but she did make a departure from that particular bed after a period of polite tolerance.

Lilac has never gotten after Bunny, save for an unfortunate incident where Bunny didn't see her foot and stepped on it in passing. She hasn't encouraged Bunny to be close to her either, though. Hawk took her under his wing for a little bit, playing with her before he just got too worn out to keep up with her and letting her follow him about. Blueberry ignored her completely, although I suspect that she was playing with her in secret, just not when we could see her sink to such a low. However, it was Lilac that Bunny really wanted an in with.

She tried joining in when Lilac would pounce on a toy. This always resulted in Lilac dropping the game and going to lay down. Bunny would try pouncing on it again to try to get her interested, but it was always a no go.

Bunny continued to try to lay down next to Lilac on the dog bed. Lilac obviously did not know what to make of it. I suspect their conversations were brief.

Bunny: Oh, you're laying on this big, cushy bed again!

Lilac: Yes, yes I am! It's good for my old bones.

Bunny: I'm really small! I'll just curl up over here on this side.

Lilac: You know, there's another bed that nobody's using over there...

Bunny: Yes, and there's nobody there to snuggle with!

Lilac: Exactly! And this bed was made for stretching out... Hey, what are you doing?

Bunny: I'm getting comfy!

Lilac: (sigh) I'll just go stretch out over there then.

Bunny: Two hounds can fit on this bed!

Lilac: Nevertheless...

One thing that Lilac has always done since we brought her here is pick up a toy (usually a Mother Bunny bunny or tribble), shake it and then try to carry it outside. Over the years we've had many arguments about whether or not she needs to bring her bunny outside. Heaven forbid that we interrupt this ritual, however! Everyone in our house knows that Lilac has to at least bring it to the back door. Bunny saw this as a divine opportunity.

So, one day as Lilac grabbed her bunny and started to get ready to go outside, Bunny ran over and grabbed the other side, starting a game of tug of war. Lilac was so stunned that she lost her rabbit! Bunny pranced around the room victoriously. She had won. It wasn't the stuffed bunny that she wanted, though, it was Lilac's attention. Since that day, Bunny often tries to get Lilac to play before we go outside. However, for Lilac, it isn't playing. She growls ferociously at Bunny, who dances around her with the other side of the rabbit in her mouth. It's no contest, really. She can always take the bunny from Lilac, but I discouraged her. It seems a bit too much to ask of the old lady dog to let the puppy win.

Surprisingly, Bunny seems to have realized it on her own as well. Recently, I've noticed that she doesn't try to take the bunny from Lilac, but instead wages a brief race to pick the bunny up. I'm pretty sure she lets Lilac win. And, in return, Lilac seems to have decided to tolerate having Bunny close to her. It seems like a fair compromise.