[Dailydrool] Alpha dogs. and Mariah and I are at war

[Val Brewer]

Mariah and I are at war.  
Mariah is the alpha dog of our pack of three—two bassets and one notabasset  (Although there is little doubt that our pit mix IPo, twice Mariah’s size with a much clearer warrior heritage, could annihilate Mariah  if Ipo chose to do so. IPo generously and politely defers, usually. Mariah radiates the confidence of a Bengal tiger, and so the other two go along peacefully with Mariah’s preferences, unless there is an avocado in contention; then IPo dominates.)
The alpha assertions play out at bedtime, rarely anyplace else. (Unless my husband puts on the floor a  mostly finished dish with leftovers on it that includes avocados as an ingredient.  IPo is a maniacal fiend for avocados and will fight off any share-minded contenders. But, in almost all cases in this circumstance, Mariah licks any proferred scraps dish first, and then when she has had her fill and leaves, the other two move in politely and share whatever they can scavenge. they remind me of pride of lions.)
Bedtime.  the three dogs and I share a heated waterbed.  (Too hot for my husband, but great for my bad back though, and he and I have incompatible sleep disorders in old age in any case—I spasmodically thrash and he snores even with a CPAP, so he enjoys a private dog-free refuge, and I love a pack of furry heating pads until the dogs lose all patience with sleep disruptions and move to more peaceful climes).
Mariah is an awful tyrant when it comes to settling for the night.  there is a dog ramp to the bed.  Mariah takes her position at the top of the ramp while I am brushing my teeth, and growls menacingly and refuses to let the other two up onto the bed.  when I come in, I, in turn, vocally growl at Mariah and drag her, protesting, to the head of the bed while the other two get on.  it is ridiculous.  we all sleep after that. it feels like some sort of Buckingham Palace changing of the guard ritual.
so, on to the war.  Despite being a total alpha, Mariah is not a particularly demanding dog.  none of the three are.  The only thing that even occurs to me as a demand from Mariah is a telltale growling and quiet, low-pitched barking when she wants access to the yard (totally fenced and we have a doggie door in the screen door, but when the wooden outside door is closed, there is no access).  when the dogs are outside, unfortunately they bark—at other dogs, passers by, trucks, motorcycles, well...the wind tapping on a roof.  they are great watchdogs.  our neighbors object.  so we keep the dogs strictly inside from after their nightly walks at eight PM and until the world arises the next morning at nine AM.  Potty breaks don’t seem to be a problem in this interval.
but lately, Mariah has decided that she wants to lay on the grass in the moonlight.  so she starts with the soft growling an low-pitched almost barking at about midnight.  and she will stand by my bed doing this for very long intervals—.  I refuse to give in.  twenty minutes pass and she desists.  I sleep for a half hour, and then there she is, and it starts again.  I will not give in—I know where that leads.  so this continues all night.  Mariah is a force to be contended with.  (no accidents , by the way.  this is a contest of wills, I think).  so, night one.  tonight is night two.  We’ll see how it goes.  she looks like the picture of health and confidence. I really do think it is an alpha contest.  But, we will see.  time will out.  aloha, Val, Mariah, Mila, IPo, and Bill of Hawaii

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