Her Bark Is Worse Than Her Bite

Mr. Taleteller and I had a good giggle Wednesday night at Morgan's expense.  It might have been wrong of us to laugh at her.  Okay, it was wrong of us to laugh, but we still couldn't help it.

Any time you add a new dog to a currently existing pack, some sorting out of pecking order has to happen.  We're realistic about that.  As hard as it is to not interfere, we also know that it's better to let the girls sort things out on their own as long as things are not getting out of hand.  If somebody snarls or shows teeth, we let them know that's not acceptable and things usually are defused from that point.  There hasn't really been too much of that, anyway. 

Morgan has really not challenged Blueberry or Bunny for much of anything.  She seems to be pretty much still intimidated and in awe of them.  Lilac has been the one I've been worried about.  Despite the fact that she pretty much keeps us on our toes (most of the night) she is getting pretty fragile.  I worry a lot about her getting bumped and knocked down.  Morgan hasn't been mean with her by any means, but she doesn't treat her the way she treats the other two, either.

So, for that reason, we've kept a very close eye on the interactions between Morgan and Lilac.  Most of the time, Lilac sleeps and just ignores whatever Morgan is doing.  However, sometimes she gets restless and moves around, trying out different beds to see if they're more comfortable.  Usually after a twenty minute circuit of bed trials, she settles on the one that is in front of her fan.  Wednesday night, she'd made herself rather comfortable and was enjoying a nice evening nap.  Morgan went past her to go look out the door and window on one of her regular patrols.  She walked past Lilac and managed to step near one of her sensitive toes.

Lilac sat up and gave out a loud bark.  Morgan shot across the living room in a blur, then turned and went to stand behind the end table beside Mr. Taleteller, looking around for the source of the attack and trying to regain her cool.  Bunny and Blueberry both looked up from their respective resting spots in surprise.  They couldn't figure out what the fuss was about.  Mr. Taleteller calmly reassured her that things were alright and that her reputation was intact.

I guess little old lady dogs will get their way with everybody!