Day 16: Cat Fight…Well Kinda

If there’s anything that I’ve learned from owning dogs is that female dogs are just as catty toward each other as human females are. Molly and Luna have a love-hate relationship. They’re like two sisters who get along most of the time, but every now and then get into a fight just because the other looked at her wrong. Being taller, Luna often likes to torment Molly and Clara because they’re short than her. Needless to say, they don’t appreciate it very much and they fight back. Luna doesn’t mess with Haley or Nia because both of them have beat her up a time or two.

Though I do prefer female dogs over male dogs, I knew that if I wanted to get a bigger dog that I’d have to get a male and not a female because getting a female would result in reestablishing the pecking order. That would mean a big dog fighting smaller dogs and I didn’t want to imagine the outcome. Funny thing is that the outcome would probably be in favor of the smaller dogs.

When I brought Buddy home, the girls sniffed at him and then went about their business. Although Buddy does like to mess with Luna–probably because she messes with the others–they’ve never had any outright fights. Buddy respects the smaller dogs and the smaller dogs respect him. In fact, Buddy has been an asset in helping wrangle the girls when they decide that they want to go crazy. He doesn’t do anything except stand in their way. He’s big enough to prevent them from going anywhere, but short enough that they can’t go under his legs. Sometimes I wonder how I ever lived without him.

What I wonder more is about my girls’ hierarchy. From what I can tell is Haley is the alpha female dog (I’d like to think that I’m the ultimate alpha female, but…). Nia is under her and she’s the rule enforcer. If any of the dogs, mainly Luna, gets out of hand, she backs them into a corner to settle down. Luna might be under Nia, but I’m not entirely sure since she feels the need to reinforce her position every day. I think she’s unsure. Molly is next. She doesn’t really care where she fits in; she just does her own thing. Clara, being the smallest, is at the bottom. She’s also an enforcer though. Often times she’s the referee between two dogs who are playing a bit roughly.

I think I’ve mentioned a lot of this before, but all of that was before Buddy came into the family. He didn’t really change anything in the hierarchy, but he added something to this sorority. He added the calm, strong, silent type male presence that was missing. His size added protection. His breed added loyalty. I guess what I’m saying is he complements us; he’s the bark of reason in this zany female household.

Now if only I could find a man who had Buddy’s personality. On second thought, a man with Buddy’s personality probably would be boring. There are just some personalities that only dogs can pull off.

Until next time, make sure your humans know who really is in charge. (Hint: It’s not them).