Dog Tag-Team

So today I got into a game with Murphy and Belle where I'd chase them around the house and wrestle with whichever one I could catch. I haven't done this with them much because the first time I tried, when Belle was new here, she got confused or scared and turned and attacked Murphy. But now she's settled in and everybody is friends and I've been increasing my hands-on activity with the pair of them as they've shown a willingness to stay in play mode. Murphy loves being chased around the house, and Belle...well she's apparently new to the game with humans but she's catching on fast and seems to be getting into it.

So this afternoon, I'm chasing them both and they're scattering and circling around behind me. One runs up the stairs, the other tries to hide behind a chair, both run into the bedroom and get trapped and then try to fight their way past me in the doorway...it's a cardio workout all around. When I catch a dog, I wrestle that dog down. What I'm noticing though is that both dogs run from me and stick together but as soon as I lock onto one dog as my prey, the other dog switches sides and joins me to take out the prey dog. If I grapple with Murphy, Belle jumps on him too. And when I corner Belle and pin her to the ground, Murphy's right there to get a light mouthing bite on her as well.

And then the phone rang. I told the dogs that it was "time out" and I went to answer the phone. They bum-rushed me in unison as soon as I turned my back on them. Bastards.

Loyalty is such a fleeting thing in the world of the dog.