Ear Baths and Pecking Orders

It's been a while since I have had a post about our two favorite pups, Jackie and Angel, but it isn't because I haven't wanted to, it's more because nothing of any real interest has happened lately. (Not that it ever does, it's just the only excuse I could come up with.)

I have also slacked off on taking pictures lately. I am not sure why, except that I am like that in some ways. I get on "kicks" where I will do some particular activity for a while, then get bored with it, pick up another activity, and sort of cycle through them as time goes on. I might be getting closer to taking pictures again, so we'll see what the future holds.

In any case, I was looking through some of my older pictures and found some of Jackie, Angel, and Thalia that I liked, so I thought I would use those today. What I like about these pictures is they sort of highlight the relationship the three of them share.

In our house we have three cats, and three dogs. Mariah is my stepson's dog, and she is pretty big so she lives in the backyard. Angel and Jackie stay back there most of the day while my wife and I work, so the three dogs get along just fine. But that relationship ends at the back door. If Mariah shows any indication that she wants to come in the house, Jackie and Angel remind her of her place. Mariah usually doesn't try to come in, though, because she knows she isn't supposed to be in the house. But on a few occasions when it has been really cold out back, and we wanted Mariah to sleep in the garage, Angel especially lost his mind as we led her through the house to the garage door.

The cats have their own pecking order, but it's hard to tell what that order is because they avoid each other. Ebby in particlular likes to keep to her self, and is usually pretty grumpy.We let her out front so that she can get some "me" time, and so she can take her frustrations out on mother nature.

Salem also likes to keep to herself, and she has plenty of hiding spots throughout the house where she can be guaranteed of some solitude, at least for a while. And should her privacy be invaded, well, she knows of another place where others won't bother her.

That leaves poor Thalia out in the cold.Younger than the other cats, and more sociable, she wants companionship, and she wants to play, but the other, older cats really don't want much to do with her. I guess because of this ongoing rejection, Thali has decided her two playmates are going to be Jackie and Angel, whether they like it or not.

Jackie and Angel are tight. They love each other, and spend their entire lives in each other's company. The only other living soul that is honestly considered a part of their pack, is me, their daddy. But they do tolerate Thalia. At least for the most part...

Sometimes I wonder if Thali is confused. I think she thinks she's a dog.

Jackie can be pretty feisty, but she also has a soft side. She sometimes barely tolerates Thalia, especially when it comes to sharing daddy's lap space, but here she clearly extends Thalia the full privileges of an ear-bath. A privilege reserved for pack members only.

And it's not just any ear bath, it's a full service, ear bath at that!

Those three bring me more joy than you know. Well, maybe you do know.

So there we have another wacky installment of The Adventures of Jackie and Angel, (and Thalia). Until next time, please see more dogs and other critters over at the Friday Ark at The Modulator