I Have Created Monsters

That's right - I have created not one, but two monsters.  Okay maybe they aren't exactly monsters but they are certainly brats manipulative spoiled.  To set the stage, let me explain that my puppies *love* bones, raw hides - anything they can chew on.  Dixie can chew through a rather large bone in less than half an hour.  She is my destructo pup.

So tonight they are driving us crazy being a little rambunctious so I decided to give them both a bone to settle them down.  I knew the peace and quite wouldn't last more than ten minutes, but I figured "what the heck!"  As usual, Dixie scarfed down here bone in less than 3 minutes (they are rather tiny).  Bauer on the other hand likes to wait to begin eating his bone until Dixie is done.  He likes to prance around in front of her with his bone in his mouth as if to say, "I've got a bone and you don't....."  You can imagine how angry this makes Dixie and a growling/barking fest always ensues.  Usually they just growl at each other, teeth bared in a serious show down trying to determine who is the alpha dog until Bauer yields to Dixie's dominance and backs down.  Dixie can be pretty mean bossy demanding tough - and Bauer has always been more than happy to let her walk all over him. 

So that's how bone time normally goes down.  Tonight, on the other hand, Bauer finally had enough.  It was obvious from the moment Dixie started pitching her fit that Bauer had zero intentions of relinquishing his bone to her.

Notice how the hair on both their backs is standing straight up?  For those of you who don't have dogs - that's NOT a good sign.

Thinking they would just growl and bark for a bit and then settle down, Steven and I paid little attention to the fan fare.  I'm still not sure who started it, but within a matter of seconds an all out boxer

brawl took place in my living room! 

I know it's pretty fuzzy - but you get the picture.  Dixie was going for the throat!  In the back ground you can see Steven leaping to his feet.

I know a mother should never condone such poor behavior from her children, but I'm actually quite proud of Bauer.  It's about time the poor boy stood up for himself.  But it's not as if we could just let them fight it out to the death, so Steven had to step in and show them both who really is boss in this house.

Bad Dogs!  Bad Dogs! As you can see, they really can be submissive when forced.  :)

So now everyone is all flustered.  Dixie and Bauer had their first official fight.  Steven had to step up and play "bad cop" - which he really doesn't like to do.  (What does it say about me that while my kiddos were about to tear each other apart I was taking pictures???  Oh my Lord - I'm turning into my mother!)  Now Dixie is sulking on the couch, pretty mad that she got her butt kicked.  Every couple of minutes Bauer will approach her and whine a pitiful apology her way but she will turn her head away from him.  Yes - she's a little dramatic (like her daddy!)  Lord help us when we have real kids!