Uncertain guarding

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I was tidying up and found the bag of rawhide dog chew sticks was in the kitchen bench. Sunny is the only one who likes them, but I have to give them each one. Jake dropped his and walked away, “yech,” I imagined him thinking. Leo took his ran to his bed, where he’s stayed, pretty much as in the photo. If I get close to him, he lies down on top of the chew stick so I don’t take it from him. I went outside to check something on the deck, and he didn’t get up and follow me out. At least he’s not outside barking at the neighbours. 🤷🏻♂️🐶

A post shared by arthur_amerinz (@arthur_amerinz) on Dec 10, 2018 at 6:27pm PST

The caption to the Instagram photo above pretty much tells the dogs' story today, about one dog’s enthusiasm for a treat, another’s indifference/disdain for it, and the third’s not wanting it nor wanting to give it away, either, and choosing to guard it without being certain it was a good idea. Or not.

In the end, Leo did follow me out on the deck as I got ready to clean out the gutters, and when we went back into the house, Sunny had taken his chew stick. Leo looked around for it, seemed both displeased and not quite sure where it had gone. But he likes Sunny, so he wasn’t mad at her (assuming dogs even get mad at each other…). Soon, of course, he’d forgotten all about it.

What the dogs experienced today was kind of an ordinary day for them, even though they don’t get chew sticks very often. Watching them was an ordinary day for me, too. I like that.