Don't Bite The Dog

Someone asked me about the title of this blog. I know I haven't explained it, so I'll do that now.

We moved to NC, from FL last fall. On the 13 hour drive, we had our Grand Am stuffed with people and animals. The two adults up front, Jaymes and Sierra in the back seat in their carseats, a TV in the middle. Jason felt the need to have his beloved TV in the car with us despite the fact that he couldn't friggin' watch it. It took up a ton of space. We also had both Labradors, the cat in her carrier, her stinky awful litter box... And my 20-ish pet rats. Two of my girls had just had litters, so we were in a position of having way to many ratties. The rats had to be transported in carriers on the passenger's lap, as they were trying to escape for some mischief.

Anyway, the young yellow Lab, Echo, was stationed on the floor of the back seat, right in front of Jaymes' carseat. She didn't have anywhere to go, so she had to just sit there. Jaymes amused himself by kicking at her, poking her, and harassing her in general. We were on the highway, nowhere near a rest stop, so Echo was on her own. Yelling at Jaymes had no effect.

Suddenly, I hear a godawful scream. Jaymes had bent down, and bitten Echo's floppy ear so hard it was bleeding. He did it over and over, cracking up at the bloodcurdling screams. Echo had nowhere to escape to, and we couldn'tjust stop, so I yelled at Jaymes and tried to hold him back, but it was not effective.

Once we got to a rest stop, Echo was saved, and moved to the other side. Chance, the other dog, came up front by our feet because she is smaller. Echo is an awesome dog, and she tolerates a lot. Jaymes does not understand that biting the dog hurts the dog. He's not being cruel, he's not being sadistic. He is doing something to get the response- that scream strikes him as funny. That does not mean it is ok, and Jaymes has since learned that we do not harm animals in our household. I doubt he understands why, really, but he knows it's wrong. I have to watch him, he'll try to hit Echo, or bite her, and if I'm not right there he'll make her screech. It's an ongoing battle.