Tuesday Voice: Squiggles and the Gang of Four

By James T. Carney

Squiggles has five siblings – four canine and one sub canine: Teddy (aka James Theodore Carney III) pictured, as appropriate, at the end of this column.

L-R: Chloe, Murphy, Squiggles, Benny, Pepper

Chloe

The first and foremost of Squiggles’s siblings is Chloe. Chloe got off to a rocky start in terms of Squiggles’s parents. Chloe loves babies. When our son Jim and his wife Nina first brought Squiggles into our house, Chloe when into a paroxysm with her tail and her whole rear end wagging. Since that is the way she gets when she finds a mole, Jim and Nina thought that she had mistaken Chloe for a mole and was posed to shake Squiggles to death. Now, Chloe’s eyesight is not what it used to be, but she did not mistake Squiggles for a mole. After Jim’s and Nina’s error was squared away – and the screaming from anguished parents had died down – Chloe became the most devoted of siblings, running over to kiss Squiggles whenever she comes in – a process that Squiggles handles with some but limited enthusiasm.
    Chloe is the leader of the pack – something she will remind the other dogs as necessary. When Murphy, the next dog, came, Chloe would always precede him in entering the house from the back yard and waiting for him to come in so she could bite him gently to remind him of his general place in the order of things. Chloe adopted me from the beginning and thus effectuated a major change in the family power structure. While our old dog had been on top of the pyramid, followed by Donna (my wife), Jim, and Dan (or other son), with myself at the bottom, Chloe fulfilled the Biblical command that the first shall be last and the last shall be first and placed me second in command.

L-R standing: Donna, Jim, Dan
Seated: the author & Chloe

Our second dog, Mr. Murphy, is also an admirer of Squiggles. Mr. Murphy at age six still thinks that he is a puppy and loves to have Squiggles give or throw his ball to him. (We are working on the throwing action.) He will also sleep beside her if she and I take a nap together in our big bed. He is also in the kissing business although not as extensively as Chloe.
    Mr. Murphy is a typical Irishman. He makes too much noise, he drinks too much, and he is a devout coward. In addition, he has trained my wife to get up at 6:00 a.m. and give him (and the other dogs) a greenie. Since Donna is no longer getting up that early, I am the one stuck with the ill effects of her permissive attitude. She has, however, recently taken a strict stand. Both Mr. Murphy and Pepper have been exiled from the bed. Three miniature schnauzers were too many. However permissive she was in raising Jim and Dan, they were never allowed in bed. If they came in, they had to bring their blankets and sleep on the floor as was appropriate for a lower order of beings.

Our fourth dog (in the order of enlistment) is Benny the Hostile. Benny is the smallest of the dogs, weighing only 16 pounds – half the size of Mr. Murphy. He was rescued from the brink of death because the animal rescue shelter that received him was on the verge of terminating him when the Miniature Schnauzer League of Greater Cincinnati rescued him and was prepared to have me drive him to Cincinnati when I thought that I would save myself a trip and adopt him. It’s a problem walking him because he wants to attack any other dog he sees – the bigger the better. At home, though, he stays clear of the other dogs, who have clearly not admitted him to the pack even though he has been here for eight months. He has his own bed in our bedroom, which he sometimes has to share with Mr. Murphy, who likes company at night. Generally, Benny stays clear of Squiggles because he is unaccustomed to children and is basically a very frightened dog. He envisions himself as a lap dog, so will happily sit with Squiggles and me in a large family-room chair while I am reading her a book and she is being still.

Teddy, Benny, the author, Squiggles

The third dog, Pepper, suffers from an obsessive-compulsive disorder that makes her devote most of her energy to (1) jumping up in people’s laps even though she does weigh 22 pounds) and (2) kissing them. Fortunately for Squiggles, Pepper – like Benny – is not a child-focused dog. However, as Squiggles has spent more time here – as her ability to get on Jim’s and Nina’s nerves has increased – Pepper is getting more accustomed to her and on at least two occasions has taken a quick lick. Pepper likes to sit in my grandfather’s chair in my den/office, although she is generally forced to share it if she gets there before Chloe, who will hop up beside her. Chloe regards the chair as hers and does not permit anyone to share it when she gets there first since it is her normal station.

Below is another picture of the sub canine.

Teddy

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Copyright © 2014 by James T. Carney

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