My problem with LB is I never know what he’s going to do around strangers. Today he arbitrarily decided to kick the ass of a former friend.
It’s a big week, with Landlady, Ian, and Ian’s mom up for a visit. Ian’s mom has this ultimately cool dog named Basie, a sort of Pyrenees/Sasquach mix. He was one of the Lair’s first visitors, as it happens. He and LB have met before and LB always seemed to enjoy his company, in a somewhat subservient way. Basie has clearly spent his life used to being the biggest and most dominant dog in any social setting, and other dogs just accepted that. He’s actually bigger than LB, and you won’t meet many dogs bigger than LB.
But he’s not young any more, and this morning LB (after greeting Ian’s mom most happily) took one look at Basie and went for blood. Or – well, no. He went for submission, teeth bared. He shoved Basie right off the steep slope in front of Landlady’s house, came back with an insufferable smirk and a mouthful of fur, and then as if to leave no doubt as to the message he was attempting to convey, took a massive piss on Landlady’s porch.
And after that, they seemed to get along just fine.
Pack animals. Nature’s way of maintaining order. Or something.
So how does Basie like being the subservient one after all that time as top dog?
I dunno, really. He just stopped being pushy, which he always used to be, and then LB got friendly again.