I was shopping a couple days ago and because my poor dogs have hardly any toys, I always check that section of the store, just in case there might be a toy that one of them cannot live without. Sometimes that happens. And yes! there it was. It so obviously belonged to Journey it might as well have had his name on it. It is small, and cute and it was Journey's bunny.
Journey is not super fussy about toys, but living with a pirate has taught him to choose his battles. He is no match for the cunning and sneakiness that Pirate practices when it comes to toys. Even Quest has trouble hanging on to his favorites. Spirit had a favorite kind of spiky ball that NO ONE dared take from him, whether he was watching or sleeping ... it was sacred. Quest thinks he has inherited that same right, as Spirit passed the alpha dog baton to him. Somehow Pirate, although mostly respectful of Quest, does not quite sense the seriousness of Quest's toy rules as he did Spirit's rules. He often nabs one of Quest's toys and leads him on an exciting chase around the house. Quest eventually gets tired of following Pirate and he simply moves in and takes the toy right out of Pirate's mouth. Pirate is submissive when this happens.
No one is submissive to Journey. He is big and gorgeous and exhibits most of the skills that Pirate and Quest possess, except he is low dog on the totem pole and so far has not mastered evasion of Pirate's raids, when they are in the house. Outside, Journey can run like the wind but inside Pirate will often corner him and simply take the toy away.
When I gave the little bunny to Journey, the bond was immediate. He treasured it. He washed it, he cuddled with it, he loved it. Quest checked it out, but being the softy he is, he allowed Journey to keep it. Pirate came in and being a pirate, he pursued his normal course of action when it comes to anyone else having fun with something. He set out to obtain it for himself. I normally allow the dogs to pretty much do their own thing, but when it is very lopsided I sometimes intervene. This bunny presented a situation that needed my help. I told Pirate "no". Then another time, when he nabbed it and was headed out of the room, "that is Journey's - give it back!" Pi threw it at Journey, rather like a spoiled child - "here".
Pirate trying to work a trade with the blue jolly ball offered for the bunny. No luck!
Pirate continued trying to take the bunny. Any time Journey looked the other way, or tried to take a nap, Pirate was on it. I lectured him, to no avail. Journey realized I was backing him 100 percent in this situation and he gained confidence when it came to repossessing the bunny. Mostly he would just come to me and tell me when Pirate took it. By this time the bunny was soaking wet, from all the love and thievery. I even tried to dry it a little with a towel, under the concerned observation of Journey.
Quest watched everything, careful to protect his own special orange dog toy.
Pirate had never met with such a concentrated defense before and he quickly realized he needed to change his tactics. Even Quest sometimes growled at him when he would take the bunny. Pirate takes his name and his mission seriously though, and he simply changed his tactics. He went to one of the toy baskets and selected another toy. He took it to where Journey was cuddled up with the bunny, and placed it on the mattress next to Journey and the bunny. Journey ignored it and placed his foot over the top of the bunny. Pirate pranced over to the toy basket again and this time he made sure to select one of the toys Journey always liked. He tossed it to Journey and reached for the bunny in trade. It did not work ... Journey did not faulter in his devotion to the bunny. Pirate tried numerous other toys and Journey stayed firm, suspecting a trick. He has not lived with a pirate this long without learning a few things. He also realized he had strong backing to assist him in keeping this bunny.
Well, it is now the second day of the bunny. Journey is still exhibiting strong signs of possession, which I am happy to see. However, he is up against a master and even Quest has been known to just get exhausted and take a nap, rather than to continue trying to retrieve a beloved toy from the pirate. Eventually Quest moves in and takes back his toy. Quest will call Pirate's bluff. Journey does not yet understand about bluffing, but he is learning a lot from this experience.
Several times Journey got tired of the responsibility last night and he brought the bunny to me. He even tried to get me to take it into my mouth. Iccckkk! I guess he was hoping I would hold it for him. I declined, but gave him encouragement. All was going pretty well last night until I went to bed. As I fluffed my pillow I felt the most slimey, cold lump hidden in my covers. I finally helped Journey hide it under the other pillow on my bed, so we could all sleep in peace. This experience has caused us all a lot of work but we are all determined. Pirate has occasionally gotten away with the bunny, when Journey was sleeping or had gone outside. Journey takes it back immediately when he finds it somewhere he did not leave it.
I will continue to give Journey support. I must admit I enjoy watching Pirate try to trade other toys for the bunny. They are both very smart and they are constantly trying to accomplish their own goal. Journey loves this bunny though, more than he usually cares about a toy. To Pirate it is all a game. Whenever Quest takes a toy from Pirate, he just spins around and finds another one. He does not really care so much about the toy. To Pirate, it is the game that counts.
"Look, I still have my bunny"
