Photo moments

When G and I first got together, it was a bit of a challenge incorporating all the dogs into one household. I got Mia as a puppy in San Diego. She had her run-in with Tucker early on, so already knew her place (another story for a different day). She and Bandit on the other hand didn't have a lot of contact early on. That first winter, G came down south for work with Tucker, but left Bandit with his brother. Because Tucker was a turd, and they refused to watch him (for good reason).

Anyway, so by the time Mia met Bandit, it was after I moved up here. Mia was a bit older and less impressionable. And somehow decided that she was ready to take on the top female dog spot. It's been an ongoing battle ever since. Bandit is often confused because one minute Mia is chasing her around wanting to play. The next minute, she's suddenly growling and guarding a bed, a ball, or a doorway. But never one to back away from a fight, no matter how old and feeble, Bandit always jumps gamely in. Nowadays, it rarely gets past growling because G and I are pretty good at yelling at them before it gets out of hand. But over the years, we've had periods of some fairly intense conflict. The best days were right after I moved back up north and was studying for the Bar exam. I was home a lot studying, and have had to tear the dogs apart on more than one ocassion. Often, even Tucker - who seems mostly uninterested in the bitchy squabbles - would get excited for the sake of getting excited and just run in trying to bite whatever was closest. Once it was my leg.

My point being that moments like this are rare:

It was the scene that greeted me this morning as I hopped out of the shower. Never mind that they're not looking at each other or at all cuddling. The fact that they're sharing the same bed is pretty darn huge. And rarely happens with any of the dogs.

Bandit and Tucker have always had their issues, too, so to see any of them snuggled close to each other (and I say snuggled in the broadest sense of the word, as in they're in somewhat close proximity) is a miracle. There are either treats involved somehow, one is just too tired to move, or we're camping and it's 17 degrees outside so they have nothing to do but rely on each other for warmth ( May 25, 2007). Clearly, we mark these ocassions closely.

Like this bizarre evening, probably from about 6 months ago: