My son David has had a female Schnoodle dog named Lucy for about 4 years. A Schnoodle is hyper allergenic, i.e., has hair not fur and therefore doesn't cause one to sneeze, etc. 

2 Summers ago David prevailed upon us to get one too and we did so. As many know, Charcoal is her name and as I have previously blogged, she converted me into a dog lover.

During the Christmas-New Year holidays David and his wife Julie asked us to take care of Lucy.

I was very apprehensive, as the 2 dogs rarely got along when they were together. It seemed to me that Lucy, who is nearly twice as big as Charcoal bullied her. To say the least, I was worried for my Charcoal, but I agreed in the interest of Family.

At the start of the vacation, when I dropped David and his family off at the airport his last words were "Don't play favorites"!

Well, what actually happened was so unexpected that you could have bowled me over with a feather. Whether it was because of Charcoal's home court advantage or a Napoleanic 
complex, the week's actuality was just the reverse of my anticipation .

I'm not going to say Charcoal tormented Lucy, but she did chew up all her toys, insist on being the lead dog on our walks, sleep in her bed, jab her in her face with her paws and race through her meal so she could share Lucy's.

It was not pretty and we found ourselves protecting sweet Lucy from a dog who seemed to be on a mission to be declared the Alpha.

As I often say: Up is down and down is up and, clearly, I did play favorites--with Lucy.