Doggie Diplomacy

Want to solve the world's relationship problems use doggie diplomacy. I've seen it work. My mother and my sister Diana live together. They have a bit of an odd couple relationship and tend to get on each other's nerves from time to time. That's not to say they don't like each other, but do have their differences.

Enter Chewie, my mom's big Yorkie. You can't help, but like the little guy named after the Star Wars character. He's a bundle of energy and loves people. He never saw a thing he didn't want to chew. Good thing he wasn't given a tougher name to live up to. He's also a little thief. Anything he can reach is fair game and that includes cashola.

He has become the one thing both my mom and my sister have in common. They put his needs ahead of their own. That's why my mother gets up before 6 o'clock in the morning to take him for a walk and my sister puts him out before she goes to bed at night. He doesn't beg for food, but waits patiently for the right opening and usually gets some of that nummy human food.

Both of them love Chewie and that common thread I believe has improved how they get along. Chewie loves them back. He stays up with my sister, but sleeps with my mom. He's about a year old now and has been trained well. He can shake, rattle and roll!

Recently he scared the poop out of me and my mother. I was home on vacation and we took him for a ride with us. He was half out the passenger side window taking in air like dogs do when he saw a dog across the street and lunged. My mom had a grip on his leash and fortunate thing because he went all the way out of the window. I slowed down and she pulled him back in. Suffice it to say that since then she bought a new collar with more support in case he does his Superdog immitation again.

I found Chewie affecting my relationship with my mother recently. She was coming back from the UP for a visit with me. The plan was to have her stay the better part of two weeks. However she has never been away from Chewie for more than a couple of hours so we had a backup plan, if he missed her terribly my sister Diana would call and let my mom know if he was pining for her and her trip would be shortened. He survived the separation anxiety.

Doggie diplomacy. Have a strained relationship? It's nothing that a dog given a spoonful of peanut butter can't fix.