Fighting Words

Tess

She may look like a lady, but she’s got the heart of a street fighter. Yesterday Tess made it real clear nobody can mouth off to her and get away with it.

Our friend Jim came out for a visit. He brought a guest dog named Prince. Since Prince is a young Aussie, Jim thought us house dogs would like to play with him.

Prince belongs to some people who live near Jim. He’s had two other homes and done some shelter time. He’s a good looking red merle about two years old and he gets along real well with people.

Mom carefully introduced us to Prince. We have to come out one at a time to meet a guest dog in the neutral zone. I came out first since I’m lead dog and I can get along with everybody. I barked hi to Prince as I ran by and he gave me the stink eye. Mom didn’t like that one bit.

Jack came out next and said hello real politely. Prince just sniffed his butt and didn’t pay much attention to Jack. Then Tess came out. She had her tail real high but she was pleasant and didn’t do anything mean. All of a sudden Prince got this high and mighty attitude and snarled at Tess.

That’s all it took. Tess growled right back at him and the fight was on. Prince was pretty dumb to pick a fight with Tess. She won’t back down and she’s a good fighter. Plus she’s got lots of thick fur and it’s hard for anyone to get a good grip on her.

Mom broke up the fight right away. She said Prince doesn’t have good manners around other dogs so he couldn’t play with us. The rest of the afternoon Prince stayed in the front yard and played with Jim. Us house dogs stayed in the backyard.

Mom says it’s kinda funny. When Tess gets into a fight I try to put on a nasty face but I just look silly. I’d sure fight to help Tess if I could, but most of the time the fight is over before I know what happened. Mom says she loves that about me. She says I don’t have to be a fighter to be boss dog. She says it’s better to be kind and easy going. I’m gonna talk to Tess. She’s gotta get over her fighting ways. Gotta run!