Josie is our April 19, 2015 Pup of the Week

Pocket and I used to fight.  We would get up on our back legs, snarl at one another and snap with our mighty jaws.  Fortunately neither of us had the jaw strength to hurt one another.  But not all dogs are as weak jawed as we are.

With Pocket and I, as it is with River and Pocket, fights occurred when we thought our food, or our position on Mommy’s lap, was threatened.

It is often hard to understand what triggers a dog fight.  Our parents don’t know, and most times we don’t know either.  We catch the scent of tension in the air.  A quick look is exchanged and it is go time.  

Sometimes dogs fight for a bit and then lose interest.  Sometimes humans break up the fight.  And sometimes they can’t.

This week two of our best friends, and two close pack members, Josie and Emme, got into a fight.  Their Mom and Dad aren’t sure what happened.  One moment the two of them were fine with one another, the next they were really at each other’s throats.

Emme is the younger of the two and the more aggressive.  Josie the older.  There are seven pack members that Josie has to manage.  But Emme, well, Emme doesn’t like being managed.

In the animal world, and the human world too, the young replace the old, one day you are the leader, the next an upstart takes you down.  That is the natural order of things.  In the wild Emme would now be pack leader.  But we have become domesticated, and we have Moms, and we are their babies.

Thankfully Moms know there is nothing right nor fair about the natural order of things.  And in their homes if anyone is going to determine the natural order it is Moms.  Along with their Dad, their Mom ran into the yard and somehow got the younger, stronger Emme off of Josie.  But the damage had been done.  Josie had severe injuries to her face and her legs.  While the wounds were not life threatening they would have to be tended to, and surgery would be needed.

The surgeon told Josie’s Mom that they would have to wait until morning to operate and her parents had to return home with a missing heartbeat.  And Emme greeted them with a wagging tail and bright eyes leaving their parents to wonder how they could continue to love something that almost destroyed something they loved, but they could not help but love Emme.

Thankfully, the next day, Josie had her surgery and returned home where she is healing.   And us dogs don’t hold grudges so everything is fine at Josie’s family farm.  Us angels have flown down and talked to all parties involved who have sworn there will be no more fighting.  

But some day there might be a look, might be a misunderstanding, and the jaws of vengeance unleashed

Please pray for peace at the Farm between Josie and her siblings.

Her Mom deserves it, as do all the pups