Low Pug on the Totem Pole

We oddly social mammals love to bring other species into our families. It's interesting to observe our fabricated packs as they settle and reinforce their ranks, through very subtle eye and tail gestures. Our Tater has always been on the bottom rung. It doesn't matter how many dogs are at play, nor how old they are, nor the location. Other dogs, especially puppies, that try to include her in the fun only send her running. As close as she ever came to an equal, a true playmate, was her "brother", Little Man. But, that is a story for another day...

We went to a model builders club meeting, and the hobby shop had a giant plush Pug on sale for a song. All the ride home, we looked forward to seeing Poots' reaction. She has a history of boxing the ears of any remotely Puglike plush. She loves real Pugs, but not the "skin jobs".

True to the breed's trait of doing something unexpected whenever someone is watching, neither Pug reacted. They just wanted dinner, as usual. A few minutes after dinner, the solemn Pug giant sat alone in the middle of the living room. I heard a noise behind me, and managed to snap only this one pic before Tater saw me and showed doggy guilt. She had knocked it over, biting and clawing like it owed her money.


Witness: the only Pug she outranks.

Think about how much strife the world would be spared, if more people played Wii Boxing. Take another lesson from Tater.