Our First Fight

I have to tell you, it's been a difficult evening around here. I've had to yell at Franklin from time to time. His reaction is usually perfectly satisfactory, in that he either stops doing whatever it is I don't want him to do, or if, for instance, a chewy is in dispute, he might run and hide under the chair with it. Either way, I'm the undisputed boss of him and it's all good. Tonight he yelled right back. What's more, there seems to be an idea that I bear some responsibililty for the incident in question. That's an unaccustomed and unwelcome feeling, let me tell you.  Now in general, I love Franklin. Having a little brother is overall a wonderful thing. But he does cramp my preferred dining style, which I believe is at the root of the whole thing.

I've mentioned that I'm a picky eater. Also a moody eater. And, some of the time I prefer to dine at a fashionably late hour. I usually eat with Blog Mom and Daddy. Alpha Mom is not often home at dinner time and doesn't cook at home much either. BF (before Franklin) Blog Mom or Daddy would put down whatever they hoped I'd decide to eat and then I would eat, or I'd tell them to leave it there and I'd get back to it when the mood struck me. I'd have dinner any time between 6 and 11 PM, strictly according to my own appetite and mood. Since the acquisition of a little brother, it's a whole different story. Dinner is served and if it's not eaten it's picked up, because otherwise Franklin will, of course, eat it. I have to admit I'd do the same in his place if I was in an eating sort of mood. If I've refused to eat all evening, I do get another shot when Alpha Mom and I head upstairs at night. Most usually I eat then, but not always. For the last couple of days I have not been in an eating mood at all. So, I suppose by dinner time tonight I was a little hungrier than usual.

 Saturday is hamburger night. I get some burger. Franklin does not because it hasn't agreed with him. He gets dog food. Usually, when I do dine at the same time as Franklin, either he finishes his food first or at about the same time as me, Lola. Tonight I went at dinner with a little extra  gusto or something because I was finished way before Franklin, and I guess that hunger strike I had been on came back to haunt me, because I was still hungry. And Franklin was still eating. So I decided I wanted his food. And he wouldn't let me have it! So, I got a little sharp with him. And he got quite sharp right back. That had never happened before. Not only that, Blog Mom told me I should stop. She said, "No, Lola.". I'm not used to that kind of language from her, either. The whole ugly episode has left us a bit on edge, I think. Oh, I did stop when Blog Mom told me to, and eventually  I did get some more food. She waited a while. Said she didn't want me to think that bad behavior was being rewarded. Bad behavior? Moi?

The rest of the evening passed pretty peacefully, but I think the whole thing was just a bit traumatic for all of us. I hope that we can all put it completely behind us now. Tomorrow we're getting baths at the groomer and I have found I much prefer to have Franklin along. It's always nice to be with pack and partial pack is better than none.