A Boy and His Dog

I never realized when we welcomed our youngest child, albeit four-legged, that she would literally be treated accordingly. She receives many treats, has a bed on 2 floors of the house, leaves her toys everywhere and steals others that become her slobbered domain. Unfortunately, she is also teased like a youngest as well. My man-children find continual entertainment in laying on her, taking her toys, falsely announcing "squirrel" to get a reaction, building structures all around her while she sleeps, and so on. This behavior really caught me by surprise.

I can sort of understand the pestering coming from my youngest son since he does not have a smaller sibling to dominate. But it still baffles me a bit; I can only attribute this dominating behavior to their boy-ness. Especially when I see their dad poking at her ears or paws while she sleeps just to see her twitch.

The opposite of this strange relationship with dogs might be even harder to understand: pushing a little dog in a stroller. I like to tease my husband that that will be us someday when we pass an older lady pushing a carriage full of furry noise. It is fun to see the look of total unbelief mixed with strong resistance cross his face. Maybe kind of like it is fun for him to watch Zoey twitch in her sleep.

Thankfully Zoey is a very tolerant dog and as the youngest in the family, when not being picked on, is rightfully very, very spoiled. She spends most of her time curled up on something soft and fluffy (usually all my throw pillows that are ALWAYS on the floor...sigh) waiting for her next walk or treat or the doorbell to ring. Life with 3 boys is full of testosterone-driven mysteries - and I wouldn't have it any other way.