They Do This All Day Long

Sebastian has grown A LOT since his last photo on this blog.

He weighs over 40 pounds, and has lost almost all of his nasty sharp puppy teeth. And he love him big brother Howie.

I was watching them one day (when Sebastian was much smaller.) Howie was just starting to let Sebastian maul his ruff in play, and in a tender moment, Howie gently bit Sebastian's little legs and chest and neck. More like tasting him than actually biting ...

Of course that's escalated into slapdowns and body blocks now, and leaping through the air to pounce. Howie has a favorite wresting position -- on the ground. From beneath, as Sebastian buries his face in Howie's loose neck fur, Howie can bring those powerful hindquarters to bear and kick him across the room.

In the second picture, Howie pre-empts the neck bite by grabbing Sebastian's shiny black cheek, and shoving him out of the way, as Sebastian has rudely stepped on Howie's inviolate stripes.

Note the hind leg poised to give Sebastian a ripping good kick.

Their teeth-showing always makes me laugh. Howie's face stripes make his snarl look like he has wrinkles all the way up past his eyes, and Sebastian's fangs aren't all the way out yet -- so he looks like he's showing a poorly-made set of dentures.

After the boot across the room, Howie leaps to his feet and laughs at Sebastian over his shoulder. Sebastian, as you can tell from the expression, is ready and on his way to the next pounce.

Catching them on camera when they're playing like this is hard. Most of the images are blurred. Right after this, the dogs met in a chest slam, both of them standing on their hind legs. I was safely wedged in the laundry room out of harm's way; all too often they try to include me in their tussles. I appreciate the inclusion, but I have no desire to be knocked down and trampled.

The dogs snort and snap and the wrestling match is accompanied by the sound track of Howie growling. Babe (God rest his great soul) taught Howie all about growling. Every now and then I hear Sebastian trying a growl on for size, expecially when they're playing tug of war with a toy. It's only a matter of time before it's going to sound like a Wookiee bar fight again.


The next pounce comes within seconds. Howie falls down and begins kicking, while Sebastian tries to swallow his throat. The other benefit to Howie's strategy appears to be that he can bite Sebastian's legs and make the littler dog hop and lose his balance.

Sebastian's ears flop around, sometimes balancing just right so that they stand up, with the tips tipping over backwards. Kind of a drunken fruit bat look.

I'm wondering if Sebastian is actually going to end up being the larger dog when he's fully grown. I kind of doubt that he'll be the faster of the two, though, and that may be Howie's saving grace. When Howie is winning at the wrestling game, he gets so thrilled that he "gets the gallops" and, wild-eyed, starts running at full speed through the house, from the front door to the fireplace in the back, skidding to a spinning halt only to arch his back and leap madly in the opposite direction. At times like those, EVERYBODY gets out of his way, because what Howie may lack in size, he will more than make up for in velocity. Sebastian plasters himself against the side of the couch and tries not to attract attention.

Another kick across the room, and they pause to catch their breath. Howie rolls onto his chest and looks to see if Sebastian has one more round left in him for this event. If not, they'll both take a nap and rest up for the next bout.

Howie had a big day today, going to the supermarket with me and having a walk around the noisy, scary parking lot when I was done shopping. He's okay with another tackle, but he'd just as soon opt for the nap now.

Fat chance, Howie. The pup is ready to bring it on again.