A Dogs Life Update

Don't believe a word my personal private Muse Mama says!

Layla the Schnoodle dog and Lucy the Chocolate Lab have settled into a dog doesn't eat dog relationship. It took a while after Lucy's arrival for the fur to stop flying. Layla loved being an only dog and Lucy grew up with two little snappy pomegranate dogs who made her life miserable. She came with a couple of bad habits - don't get near my treats or toys and don't ever get near my food or you d-i-e.

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We were aware of this, and I spent a few weeks feeding Layla her dinner on the kitchen table while Lucy covertly ate hers with an eye on Layla. They had several run-ins, and each time Layla left the fray a bit worse for wear. She spent a lot of time feeling miserable and stuck to me like glue. As time went on they each found their place and space and worked out a peace treaty of sorts. They steal each other's toys and raw hides with out fear of injury. Layla, a wise dog, knows I will get her a replacement. Lucy, on the other hand looks at me with such sad eyes I go to Layla and extract Lucy's treat from her mouth and return it to Lucy.


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Layla still will not let Lucy come in our bedroom and she will not let Lucy in my office. Lucy is okay with that. She doesn't stand outside the door with her tail hanging and looking like a lost soul. She uses the opportunity to polish off any food left in Layla's dish and to get some personal play time with the Mister. If Layla eats out of Lucy's food dish Lucy doesn't get upset. When it's treat time Lucy moves off to a spot where she knows she won't have to kill Layla. Progress!


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About a month after Lucy's arrival Layla made a few playful jumps in front of Lucy and after Lucy stared at her like she was nuts for a while they started to learn how to play together. At first I stood nearby but I can trust them to play now. Lucy, as big as she, is gentle and Layla was never a yippy nippy dog, so playtime is safe and fun for them.


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Taking two dogs out together to do their business is the job of a puppet master. Layla goes one way, Lucy the other. They cross over and under each other and Layla always manages to wrap her lead around a tree, bush, fire hydrant, Lucy, Me or the mail box. But we manage. They race each other out the front door and stop just short of yanking my arm off. My left arm is 6 inches longer than the right one now, but a little therapy and a drink or two gets things back in order. Even when the Mister and I take them out together they manage to get their leashes in a tangle and the mister and I twirl around like the Sugar Plum Fairy trying to keep things in order.



Hey you! Yeah, you! Wanna buy a big brown dufus dog?

If you haven't read about their early days together - from Layla's point of view, in her post Dog Days of Summer, check it out now. Things were a bit dicey back then. Layla was not a happy dog. She's okay now. She'd sell Lucy on E-bay if she could, but she doesn't have a password yet. If you ever see a big brown dog with a stuffed gingerbread boy in her mouth on e-bay, please call me before the bidding gets out of hand.

Layla's Dog Days of Summer

I'm Layla. I was an only dog. Just like in this picture. See any other dogs in the picture? Nope. Just Layla. I got alllllll of the attention, alllllll the treats and allllll the love alllllll to MYself. All the dog toys in the WHOLE house belonged just to Layla. It was MINE, MINE all Mine.

Then one day the people who give me stuff and sleep on my king sized bed like they own it say they have to go out for a while. They say it all sing songy which sounds stupid but I let them get away with it. I figure they're going to buy some Layla treats. So, I'm minding my own business, sleeping on MY king sized bed smack dab in the middle of the Dads pillow with MY Layla toys and MY chewey things sprinkled all around. And then I hear all the racket they make when they're coming home. And, get this, another dog shows up with the mom and dad! Lucy! She's all bouncy and wags her tail in my face. A big brown dog who wants to share. Share? I don't want to share. It's all MINE, all MINE. Lucy wants to play and be friends. Who wants to play with a giant brown dog who chews with her mouth open.

So here's a picture of the new dog, looking out MY window, standing in MY living room and spending time with MY family. She eats here, swims in Layla's pool, eats Layla's dog food, sleeps in front of Layla's TV, drinks Layla's water, goes outside and poops on Layla's lawn. Big poops. She plays with Layla's friends, and gets to lay in Layla's kitchen with the mom while dinner is cooking. I never do that. The mom makes too much noise and gets in my way.

If that's not bad enough, the first thing Lucy did was take MY personal private gingerbread boy. Here's a picture of her with it. She's got in her mouth all day long. She even jumped in the pool with it. What a dolt. It got all wet and and mushy and then it started to smell like a dead armadillo. Next thing you know, the Dad washed it in MY washing machine and dried it in MY dryer and now it's all clean and smells like mountains and lavender. Whatever the hell that means. And who does the Dad give it to when it's all fluffy and clean? Layla? No! He gives it to Lucy! Tch.

I just gotta say that this is a dog's life. I am really bummed out. So, okay, she can take my woobie, and some of my chewy stuff and jump around in front of me like a doofus trying to play with me, but guess what? I do not let her in MY bedroom. Ever. I make my teeth real big and make my eyes all squinty and mean. It works. She's such a pushover. So, Lucy has to sleep out in MY living room on MY new big dog bed that I decided to let her have. Plus, another thing I do is, I won't let her in MY office when the Mom is in there going clickety click on that thing she sits in front of. For hours. Like a zombie, when she could be holding me and giving me treats instead.

When Lucy tries to come in to MY office I do the big teeth thing and make my eyes all squinty and mean. It works. Here's a picture of me looking sad and forlorn. It looks like I'm an only dog in this picture. But there's another dog. She's standing next to the camera, jumping up and down like a doofus. She wants to play. The only thing I want to play is Make The Big Brown Dog Go Back Where Ever She Came From. That's what I want to play. Tch.