When you have multiple dogs in a house it’s a lot like having a bunch of toddlers who don’t understand English. They talk to each other in a language all their own. They play together beautifully. They’re sometimes affectionate, sometimes ignore each other. Sometimes nap on top of each other, sometimes have “he’s touching me!” spats.

And spat they do. Yesterday we noticed that Teddy had a bit of a gouge in his nose. And Booker had a scrape on his chin. We didn’t hear anything, we didn’t see the scrape they got into – but it happens. So we washed them up, told them not to do it again, and sent them off to play. Just like toddlers.

Unfortunately, sometimes dog arguments can get a bit more serious. Back when we were younger, we had a couple of dogs who would actually fight as if they meant it. If we’d left them on their own, they probably would have been fine, but it sounded nasty and could be frightening, and a tiny bit dangerous. Fran found that out when she reached in to break them up and wound up with a few stitches in her thumb.

As a result of that little contretemps, the rules in our house became: “If you see or hear the dogs fighting, raise your hands over your head, shriek like a banshee, and run in the opposite direction.” It’s worked every time. The dogs get this look of bewilderment on their faces and run after us to see what’s wrong. Battle forgotten.