The Dog Master

When we first got this:

There were requests from Turbo and Bear that we send it right back and get a cat.

Bear is still on the fence, I catch him staring wistfully at the neighbors' cats... and hiding from the dog with our cats upstairs...but Turbo?



Where does Turbo stand on the fence?



Well... he's become the dog master.

One day, I found him training her to 'sit.' Then he progressed to 'stay' and when she gets too jumpy, he turns his back on her. He's not afraid of going near her, keeps his distance from her little nippy teeth and enjoys chasing her and trying to get her to play fetch. It's not just her, either. It's EVERY dog. Uncertain, testy old aussie shepherd? One look from him, one soft spoken 'sit' and it's on it's rump. Mouthy monstrous weimaraner? Down, and down it goes. He isn't intimidated, but he isn't stupid about it. He 'gets' that he must be alpha. He's all of four. He's uncannily good with being alpha... Fear him, but never mind that. The thing is, is most favorite thing to do, most of all, is to play a controversial game with this dog that children are discouraged from, especially with nippy dogs like this, and that children this young shouldn't be playing at all, on account of the fact dogs are bigger. I first discovered him doing this when I couldn't find Turbo or Crazy. He'd shut her in his room, and I only needed to follow the sounds of laughter and happy play sounds to discover them in an illicit game of... Tug.

These pictures are candid shots taken when I discovered him starting and playing this game... without my approval, of course.





















And the killer thing, the most amusing thing about all of this? Is, at the end of the day....




Turbo... won....