People who’ve met my dogs as they’ve gotten older have no idea how much they used to play as youngsters. I do have some photographic proof from their early years with us. We’d adopted Margot in the fall of 2000 after we lost Pete and Stevie in August of that year. We hadn’t planned to get another dog so quickly, but not only was I going crazy when I worked at home in a silent house, but our friend Denece sent the link to Margot on a rescue site, we went to meet her, and the rest is history.
We had to travel a lot that fall, which meant boarding for Margot, but she was a good girl and never held it against us. Then in January, Lynne told me about a friend who’d rescued a dog from a street in her neighborhood. Aimee had a Jack Russell, Bandit, who was not amused about a second dog in the house, so Lynne, knowing we were eventually going to get Margot a companion, asked if we’d take a look at this stray. We took Margot with us, and while Bandit repeatedly jumped several feet off the floor to see TWO dog invaders to her backyard through a window in the door, Margot and this dog got acquainted. Actually, I should say that Margot and this dog greeted each other like long-lost sisters, because their bond was immediate and forever from the first moment they met.
So Guinness came home with us, and in all their years together, they’ve exchanged harsh words only once, and that was when Guinness dashed across the bed and trampled Margot, who was sleeping under the covers. They played together, got in trouble together (it was two years before I could stop buying new bedding on a regular basis because of two little chewers), and Margot trained Guinness to walk on a leash, to go in and out of the crate without complaint, to sit on command for treats or on walks, and to inhale her food.
But the playing… As they’ve matured, Margot will romp only in the early mornings or just before bed, which means no one sees this side of her but us. Everyone else thinks she’s All Emo, All The Time. Guinness and Margot both still play with toys, but it’s a solitary activity now. When other dogs play, Guinness has earned the moniker “The School Marm” because she stands next to the boisterous members of the pack and barks, as if scolding them: NO MORE FUN! I believe she thinks she’s playing, but the other dogs ignore her and from us she just hears, Shut up. SHUT UP. shutupshutupshutup
Tuesday night, our world was turned upside down when Tim came home with a new dog toy for Pixie and Penny to play tug with and this happened:
It’s Margot! She darted from behind my chair to get in a standoff with Pixie! So shocking that I grabbed my camera immediately.
Pixie is all, “WTF? What am I supposed to do about this?”
Go, Margot!
Phoebe is pretty much at the stage your girls are. She used to play all the time; I’d say she was ‘6 years going on 6 months’ when people asked me how old she was. Now, she just hogs the bones or toy and warns the pup away. Every once in a while, though, she’ll pick up a toy and try to get Izzy to play, but Izzy’s all “Heck, no! You’ll just end up nipping my nose!”
As you know from the toys you’ve sent, Margot is a toy hoarder from way back. She’ll tuck them all under the bed, or on the chair behind her, then go to sleep–a dragon guarding her treasure.
margot is living in the past. She thinks she is pup. Do you need Minute to come play with her?
Yes!
Probably her way of saying, “They don’t bring me toys anymore. Sniff! Dribble!”
She can do a duet with Barbra Streisand!
Looks like Pixie is totally patronizing Margot. “Oh, yes. You are ferocious. Are we done now?”
I know. That was such a strange minute or two–seemed to last forever.
Wait. What? Margot…played? With PIXIE? Is that PhotoShopped?
I know! It hasn’t happened since. We were lucky to get a shot of it.
Margot is a spunky old girl.
I always thought inhaling food was Guinness’ one innate trait.
Yeah, I think they are equally matched in that.