We laugh a lot over breakfast. The dogs lie in wait for Bruce to be ready to do barn chores. (I typed “go do” in that sentence but deleted “go” We try not to use that word around here, and resort to spelling, but the smarties have learned G O too, and immediately begin raising a fuss to be included.)
Tara and Ruby both select a toy to keep them company during wait time, but Ruby is a lot like my kids used to be. She’s a tattletale. And a hoarder. She wants not only her toy, but the one Tara has and Tara knows that, so she keeps it tucked under her chin and under a paw. Ruby has her nose next to the toy she wants to steal, as well as her own toy in position under a paw so it’s protected, and begins to complain loudly.
“Mom, she’s not sharing. Make her share.”
We tell her she has a toy, and to go play with that one. To no avail. She complains louder. And longer. Meanwhile, Tara lies quietly, with a smug look on her face. Eventually, Ruby nudges Tara’s toy a bit. Nibbles at the edge. Finally grabs it and runs off. Then there’s a tug of war, and they end up back where they were with, more pitiful cries from the would be thief. Sometimes Ruby gets all the items out of their toy basket and arranges them in a circle. No idea what that’s about, but it doesn’t stop her from trying to acquire the last one, under Tara’s nose.
Tara has her own payback though. She does her best to keep Ruby from getting into the vehicle when we allow them to go along. As soon as someone starts toward the garage, she begins an annoying yap that continues while she tackles Ruby and drags her around by the collar. When the pickup door opens, she guards the entrance and intimidates Ruby until one of us intervenes.
The Keep Away game is funny to watch with pets, but I always hated it as a kid. Two against one, or maybe a bunch against one. It made me feel worthless and unwanted; an outsider, with no chance for acceptance. If my kids played it, I made them stop.
I’m very frustrated with the way our society has adopted a victim mentality, and the groups that want to whine and tattle over hurt feelings instead of seeking solutions that don’t involve entitlement. That said, human history has played the keep away game for centuries in many aspects. This is wrong. If we would only put the past aside and improve the future by starting over it might solve a lot of problems. Surely, we should have evolved beyond the attitude of these dogs that just play the same scenario over again every day.
Just saying.