We have a dog, a fox terrier-ish mutt named Eddie. JW got her at the APL in October of last year. She’s very skittish; she must have lived a hard life on the streets. The only thing she'll boss around is the three legged kitten, and only when provoked.
In Eddie’s mind, the three of us have formed a little pack, with all the dynamics you’d expect from a dog. She considers herself the lowest female on the totem pole.. Justin is the alpha-male, and she respects him for it. If he calls her while she’s outside, she’ll come running. If he says, “Get off the couch,” she’ll do it.
I, on the other hand, am merely another one of the bitches in the pack. I tell Eddie to do anything, and she just stares at me. When I’m in bed, she’ll come up and lay on the bed (When Justin’s in the bed, she sleeps submissively under it). She always wants to be touching someone, and it’s usually me. Not because she has more love for me, oh no. She just doesn’t respect my need for personal space. I can’t look at her without her coming over for some attention. Her construction of the relationship is much like one member of a harem to another. We might be friends, but all the respect and devotion goes to the Sultan.
This is a new role to me, and I try to fight it as much as possible. But how do you tell a dog you’re living in twenty-first century America, and there is no need to attempt to fill traditional family and gender roles? She obviously hasn't read The Feminine Mystique.
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