Sibling Rivalry

Being an only child living on a farm my husband never experienced sibling rivalry. I am the youngest of three and the only girl. There was more rivalry between my brothers than between them and me. Our daughter is an only child so she has never experienced sibling rivalry. As a child she often asked why she didn't have any brothers or sisters. I would say, "Your Daddy and I wanted more children but that's not the way things turned out." Truth be told, as a new mom at 34 I probably wouldn't have survived another one. It took all my wits and energy to raise her. Her growing years is a blog on its' own. More to come on that one.

Now that we are empty nester's we are experiencing sibling rivalry between our two dogs. Angel was an older puppy when my husband found her on the side of the road some 11 years ago. Gabriel is a retriever pup we added to our home this past September. For Angel it was hate at first bite. For Gabriel being the five month old he was, it was love at first lick. The more Gabriel tried to be friends, the grouchier Angel became.

The first few days were tricky. We didn't trust Angel alone with Gabe much like parents don't trust a two year old with a newborn. Having Gabriel has brought out the puppy in Angel. Angel never cared for toys. Gabriel loves them. I didn't see it as unusual for Gabe to pick up his favorite stuffed fox and shake it in Angel's face. It boggled my mind to see Angel pick-up the same toy later on and shake it in Gabe's face. If Gabriel wants it, so does Angel. If I pay attention to Angel, Gabe pushes in and vice-vesa. As I write this Gabe is laying with his head under my recliner. Angel is directly in front with Gabe's purple doll under her paw. I'm surprised my cat Izzy hasn't come over to snuggle next to me. I guess he doesn't feel like being harassed. Some day this cycle will repeat itself when Angel is chasing squirrels across the Rainbow Bridge and we bring another pup into our lives to entertain Gabriel. Until next time eat all the apple pie a-la-mode you want, it's only fruit and mild after all.