"Sprite, stop cornering Harry!"
I stepped behind her, her own back never turning, as she stared down at the snarling terrier. This would not end well.
Sprite has been Harry's nemesis for years now, taking on the title of foe right around the time she began crawling and he realized she was coming after HIM. Blue, our beagle, could care less about how heavy handed her love is, as long as she gets love, she'll take it in whatever form. Harry though? He's smart. And has a Napoleon complex, so his ego is pretty big too.
His eyes locked on her, Harry continued growling as I grabbed Sprite's arm and pulled the laughing child out of his personal space and turned her to face me. "Sprite, you know he doesn't like that."
Sprite's eyes danced with mirth, her plan of attack still not aborted. "Harry needs a hug!" She then pulled away from me to face her opponent once more.
Harry showed his teeth now, not happy with her refusal to back down.
I needed to do something or he would have a coronary with the stress of it all. But what? Strong-arm her out of the kitchen?
"Harry, bad boy!"
Sprite whirled around to look at me. I didn't meet her eyes as I put on my best mean face and berated the dog for basically sitting there. "Harry, that was very naughty! Go to time out!"
Harry hung his head and moved out of the kitchen, heading for the entry rug where Sprite usually spends her solitary confinement. He then sat gingerly, looking back up at me.
The damn dog had gone to time out!
At a loss for what to do next, I just pointed at him. "Three minutes."
Sprite, not wanting to associate with the canine criminal since that would mean getting intimate with the time out mat, moved on to wrangling Blue as Harry stayed within the "prison walls" and yawned, finally safe.
"You're welcome," I remarked, walking back into the kitchen to start dinner, pausing quickly by my purse to grab the camera and document the moment for prosperity's sake, and the fact that John would surely not believe it when I told him.
Good boy, Harry.




