Christmas Family Squabbles

It’s all Winnie’s fault, but we love her anyway.

Christmas, (AKA The Holidays) typically brings families together. As we all know, everyone is different and if two people always agree, one of them is not necessary. Politics, religion and social topics often make for an interesting get-together.

This year was no exception, . . . except for the tension at our place was felt by the furry members of the family.

Here is how it worked:

Winnie (L) and Martha with Megan’s legs in the middle of nap time

We have two, nine and a half-year-old black Labs. Big Red and Mackenzie are brother and sister from the same litter.  We often refer to them as “The Twins”. I have to guess, but I think they have been apart only a few hours since they were born and that is when they were neutered and fixed.

Our daughter Megan had one, now two dogs.  Martha is a 3-year-old rescue, who has been to and stayed at our home (with the twins) many times and I cannot recall any issues.   Martha came to stay with us last week and continued to do well with her cousins.

Mackenzie and Red, hiding in my office.

Megan and Andrew have rescued another puppy.  Winnie is around three months old and is a Lab-Huskie mix. Cute as a button and playful, well, as a puppy.  Winnie was introduced to the Twins on Friday night and while there was no bloodshed, let’s just say that we humans were more happy to see Winnie than the twins were.

What resulted was very interesting, so try to follow along.  Within minutes of her arrival, Big Red brustled at Winnie and snapped at her.  Immediately, Martha came to her defense and let Red know that she did not approve. (At the same time, I got in his face and made the same point)  That happened 2-3 times over the last few days, but what was more interesting is that Red (70+ lbs) became afraid of Winnie (2+ lbs) and avoided her, shaking as he slinked away to hide from her.   Concurrently, Mackenzie was less than her friendly self, except when Elissa, Cole, and Adeline came with their dog, Selby. Selby and Mackenzie are great friends.

Selby, (L) hanging with the motherly Mackenzie.

Today, Megan left with Winnie to get back with Andrew, leaving us with Martha until Saturday. Within minutes of her leaving, the three of them (Big Red, Mackenzie and Martha)  were back to roughhousing and playing, without the puppy messing up the dynamic.

Humans? Dogs?  Personalities? Almost the same except one sheds more than the other.