E captured the dogs in a deadlock over a toy. The two photographs, although they look identical, were actually taken 30 minutes apart. On this particular occasion the dogs remained at an eerily silent standstill for over an hour, as delicately and precisely balanced together as pieces of a Calder mobile. At various times one would doze off, but even so his or her jaws remained locked down on the plastic Nylabone with the tenacity and pounds per square inch force of a gila monster.
This is a deadly serious situation, because the dog that wins this toy tug of war wins dominancy, which is why you’re never, ever supposed to play tug-of-war with your dog, (and if you do, you better make sure you win.) As Billy (the smaller Jack Russell) got older the battle for alpha supremacy between Sid and Billy progressed from cute sibling rivalry to a bloody internecine war, and eventually Sid had to be re-homed in New York City with E’s brother and his wife. 
We got Billy with the best of intentions, really we did. We figured that although the brothers would be from different litters they would, sharing the same bloodline, soon become best friends. Little did we know that in the case of Billy’s litter there was tragic kennel mix-up, resulting in Lemon (Sid and Billy’s dam) accidentally being bred to a demon.
2 comments:
My partner and I do this over the last french fry.
There is no way! Every time I look up at those 2 pictures I start laughing. That is perfect, it reminds me of my dogs except that it puts their standoffs to shame.
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