Sibling Rivalry. With Growling.

We don't have sibling rivalry at my house. What do a 16-year-old man-boy and a 10-year-old girl have to rival about? They have different interests (except for movies, music and X-Box), different friends, different clothes, and different schedules. They have no issues.

I can not say the same for the dog.

Mackenzie has always been my shadow. As an infant & toddler, she freaked when I left the room. I was the only one who could push the grocery cart. We didn't think she would ever go to kindergarten*, and likewise for college. She follows me around the house - it would be blasphemy for me to get up right now and go get on the computer in the basement without telling her where "we" were going. She sits smack-dab right next to me when we watch TV. Until she gets up. Then Taiko swoops right in and lays in her spot.

Every Single Time.

And it makes her Crazy! Last night she got up twice within 3 minutes and both times he just nonchalantly got up and curled up right next to me in her spot like he'd been there all along. Then when she went to move him, he growled at her like, "How do you have the NERVE to move me while I'm RESTING?!?!"

She was 5 when we got him. It's 5 years later and now at 5 and 10 they have yet to find a peaceful coexistence. For the first year or so we had Taiko, he was unwilling to accept that she outranked him in the pack. We had to do some serious re-booting of his hardware before she gained the upper hand. Now, on the surface, he seems to accept that she's Alpha, but in an incredibly nefarious way he lets her know that she's dogmeat to him.

From the moment we got Taiko for Dillon & Mac, he was my dog. I picked him up while the kids were at school. He sat on my lap the whole way home and hasn't left my side since. And I gotta tell you, it's getting a little crowded in my immediate vicinity, a frequent complaint from the Dad. When I leave the room, Taiko follows me. When I go to bed, so does he. If I'm sitting on the couch and I even act like I might be getting up, he jumps off and twirls around waiting to see what exciting thing we're going to do next. Though he has, in his middle years, stopped following me into the bathroom. I guess he finally figured out that there's only one way in and out of there and he's quite safe to just guard the door. Quite frankly, he's the worst present the kids have ever gotten.

Hmmm... Follow me on this tangent if you're not doing anything else...which you're clearly not, if you've got nothing better to do than listen to me go on, and on, and on... She's got 7 1/2 years left before she's off to college. In 7 1/2 years, Taiko will be 13. Approximately the life expectancy for a 14-pound spaniel. Fall of 2013 is going to suck to be me big-time.

Anyway, they live together in this house, each tolerating the other while just under the surface, is a smoldering desire to push the other out of the pack. Thankful that the dog doesn't have the vocal cords to yell at her, or the coordination to stand on his hind legs and stomp out of the room while slamming a door in her face, I will just sit here and silently referee the nightly battle for my personal space.

And enjoy it while I can.

*She did go without a single tear. Can't say so for myself...