Sweet, Sweet Juno Is In The Dog House

Alas, my precious doggie has done me wrong! On Monday afternoon, Juno bit the hand that feeds her. TWICE!

My Sweet, Sweet Juno does not have a malicious bone in her body. Well. As far as I'M concerned. She would never nip at me, for any reason. She has plenty of malicious bones to pick with Copper Jack the neighbor dog, and with our own (formerly known as Puppy) Jack. But me, I'm in the clear. Smooth sailing awaits me on the Juno seas.

However... Juno likes her treats. On Monday, the dogs were enjoying some delicious 22 Grain Bread, chicken bones (the keel and back and inedible wing flap), and some year-old slices of pepperoni suitable for pizza, still in the unopened pack. Which I opened for the dogs, to sort out portions to toss to them.

Their first course was bread, lest even the softest of chicken bones irritate their digestive tract. The bones were the second course. That's when Juno got herself in trouble. TWICE.

I stand in the kitchen door with the house treats. Jack is at my feet, wiggling with anticipation. I make sure his portions are in a form that his tiny mouth can get around. Like, I crumble his bread so he doesn't have to gnaw on the slice, but can eat chunks of it. Juno gets the whole slice, which she grabs and turns tail to dash into her house. Copper Jack gets the lesser treats flung to him over the top of Juno's dog house.

Juno is greedy. She begrudges every morsel that does not come her way. She spends the entire treat session growling low in her throat. Just in case Copper Jack should run over, I guess. He never has. He defers to Juno. Juno will even step her front legs into the kitchen while I'm getting a treat off the counter. She won't come in any other time, but she loves her treats. Jack waits at the threshold. He knows I'll bring his treats to him.

The nip happened with the chicken bone. It wasn't very big. I keep my fingers well back at the end. My intention was to hand it to Juno. In a perfect world, she would have taken her end gingerly in her mouth, and turned like a lady to enter her boudoir for a nosh. But that's not my Juno. She JUMPED at my hand, and could have taken my pinky finger clean off! No blood was drawn, but the pinch hurt. Only Even Steven kept my pinky finger intact, as a reward for initially rescuing my Sweet, Sweet Juno from her starving life as a pup dumped along my mom's rural road.

I'll be darned if Juno didn't do the exact same thing with her second bone! Enough is enough!

"JUNO! NO! BAD! BAD DOG!"

She knew she done wrong! She tucked her tail and ducked her head as she scurried into her house. Didn't come back out, either! Not even when I was dishing the pepperonis to Jack and Copper Jack. I could see that Juno wanted some. She poked her nose out. But I put the kibosh on her exit.

"No pepperoni for YOU!"

Jack and Copper Jack were a bit taken aback, but it did not seem to hamper their enjoyment of their pepperoni. A momentary cringe from each, until I told them they were good dogs, but JUNO was BAD!

It's my own fault that I've let Juno get away with grabbing treats. I should have asserted myself many treats ago. I don't know where this lunging/jumping came from. I've never been the kind to make my dogs stand up and beg for a treat. I generally hand it to them, or drop it under their nose.

Juno and I are going to have a training session the next time Jack and Copper Jack are away. Then I'm sure we'll have to do it all over again when they're here. Juno will have to sit down, and wait for her treat to be laid in front of her. Or else no treat!

In more positive news... Copper Jack came running across our yard when I drove T-Hoe down the driveway. Like nothing was wrong with him. He even jumped over the edge of the concrete carport to chase a squirrel. AND he came around the garage again, and waited for a treat. Didn't even look like the same dog from a couple days ago, when he could hardly walk, seeming as if he didn't want to touch his front OR back feet to the ground.