On Saturday evening, Jeff and his parents, along with extended family, watched Notre Dame play Arizona in Dallas. I, however, did not join but instead stayed home to watch the boys -- Milton and Dusty, Pop and Momeaux's nine-year-old bichon frise. He and Milt are not exactly the best of friends, but Milt does show Dusty some amount of respect, usually, because Dusty is his uncle, after all...
Well, while babysitting, I decided that the boys could use a good long walk to release some energy before night set in. They were both more than willing to join me, so we set off on Milt and my usual route of three miles. On the walk, Milt and Dusty were acting like their usual selves, sniffing here and there, marking street signs, tugging on me etc. Things were going splendidly well until we reached the turn around point, and a torrent of rain began to fall from the sky. Actually, at first it was a light drizzle, but then it quickly picked up to a full-on downpour.
As you can image, Milt Dog was in his glory -- tilting his head skyward to catch rain in his mouth, prancing about, and looking up at me in sheer delight. Dusty, on the other hand, lost the majority of pep in his step, and his little tail went from full-mast to half-mast very quickly. Basically, Milt thought I was the best momma ever to disregard our safety and take them for a walk in a massive shower complete with thunder and lightning. Dusty, I'm certain, had a different sentiment equating me to a mean, old witch, and he was all prepared to tattle on me to Momeaux, his real mom, when she arrived home later that evening. Our goldendoodle did not help the situation at all because with rain comes fiestiness, and he thought this was the opportune time to run across leashes trying to engage Uncle Dusty in some play.
Upon return from our walk, all three of us were a sopping wet mess.
 |
| Poor little Dusty |
 |
| Once we were no longer in the rain, Milt's joie de vivre faded a little bit. |
 |
| I was quite drenched too... |
Once back in our warm, cozy home, I thought we would all cuddle up and relax for the remainder of the evening, but, sadly no, all thanks to our goldendoodle. A big problem arose when Dusty Dog set up camp on Milt Dog's bed immediately upon return. All day long, prior to his, Dusty had laid on Milton's bed, and not once did Milton bat an eye. Tonight, quite possibly due to his wet condition, Milton had enough of Dusty's selfish tendencies! Milt preceded to bark at Dusty from the doorway of the foyer, again and again and again. He was relentless. At first I thought that our boy simply wanted Dusty to get up and play, so I let it persist. When Dusty did jump up to bark at Milt and shoo him away, much spirited chasing around our coffee table ensued and a bit of nipping and snarling as well. Subsequently, Milton received a timeout in the bathroom with all the lights off.
 |
| A stand-off |
After the first time-out, Milton went back at it, and I was forced, following another uprising from Dusty, to give Milton a second time out. Returning from this one and still continuing to bark, I knew their was a real reason for Milt's anger.
 |
| Both boys keeping their distance. |
I finally figured out that Milton was not soliciting Dusty in some rowdy, wet play, but rather, he truly wanted his bed back, in a bad way, because he is the rightful owner, especially when he is soaking cold. Milton was being more than a little rude to his guest, but he did have a valid point. How was I to rectify this nasty situation? Well, Momma Dog hauled Milt's back door guard dog bed all the way up front to appease both parties.
 |
| Note how Milton is giving Dusty the cold shoulder. |
 |
| Now they're in a face-off. |
Despite my best intentions, both boys were still displeased as they later moved on to higher, dryer ground.
 |
| Much better |
 |
| Comfy, cozy |
Needless to say, Milton was quite happy to wave goodbye to Dusty on Sunday afternoon. Those two might be related, but they really can only handle one another in very small doses united by a common love of Momeaux...!
