August 17, 2014

Quid’s Harem

Quid arrived in the fall of 2005.  He was about to turn four, right in the middle of his prime.  While most of the rest of my dogs were also in their prime----Fondue, Jake, Jag, Tok, Sima, and Mitzi were within in a year of his age, and all the others were within two, Quid was clearly the fastest dog I owned.  It wouldn’t be until the next year and Tanner’s arrival that he had any real competition.

With his joining the Silly Lake Pack, Quid set out to establish himself at the top of the pecking order.  Unfortunately, for all the athleticism the Q’s have, they’re not good fighters.  I break up fights as soon as I can, but that’s usually enough time for the better fighter to establish that.  As the season progressed, Quid worked his way down the pecking order.  Ghost and Jake ended up below him---Jake didn’t care and Quid had ten pounds on Ghost---but that was it.  Gonja, still seven or eight pounds lighter than Quid, easily took him. 

In spite of this, Quid has continued to hope that, one day, he might be the top dog.  At 12 years 8 months, that’s not likely.  He is a dog, though, and only dogs can be more optimistic than people.  With that hope, he spends much of yard time growling at males who pass nearby.  Quinn, his brother, evidently used to do this as well.  Bob, the Q’s Godfather, referred to it as grumbling.  It’s not as vehement as a full growl, but it’s still a challenge.

Aside from my chastising Quid for grumbling, I’ve had to be careful when choosing who he’s next to in the yard.  There were several males I could put him next to.  Up until recently, he was right next to Murphy and Murph simply didn’t get involved in dominance play.  Tok would play mind games and actually did dominate him, but would be subtle enough about it that Quid hasn’t figured it out.  However, there were plenty with whom it would be a good bet that he’d end up in a fight.

With the limitations of which males he could be next to and the yard changes that I regularly do, the inevitable happened.  Quid is now surrounded by bitches.  Vixen is south of him, Gaiya is west, Tempest is north, and Kennicott is east.

With this, Quid is convinced that he has his own harem. 

“Look, dad, they’re everywhere!  As soon as she comes into heat, maybe before, I’m going to mount one!” 

“Quid, they’re all spayed.  You’re going to be waiting a long time.”

Beyond that reality, the girls have a little bit of a different view of it.  Tempest really doesn’t care.  Gaiya flirts with Lolo, much to Quid’s dismay.  Vixen and Kennicott, however, are more than happy to take advantage of Quid’s I.Q.  They pretty much take turns acting like they’re interested in him, presenting their rears to him in what I’m sure is a seductive manner, then slipping away.  Quid tries to pull whomever toward him so he has a shot at mounting her, but even Vixen is able to sit then scoot away. 

Years ago, I had Tok and Quid next to each other.  Males assert their dominance over other males by putting their head over the submissive male’s shoulder, licking the submissive male’s penis (dogs are different from people), then mounting the submissive dog.  Tok would regularly let Quid do the first two, but never let him seal the deal, as it were.  I’d look down into the yard and see Quid pulling as hard as he could on Tok’s rear and Tok, looking completely nonplussed, resisting the motion.  Understand that these were among my biggest strongest males, so Tok’s expression aside, there was a lot of energy being expended.  And occasionally, Quid would look up at me and say, “Dad, doesn’t he understand the rules?”  “Actually, Quid, I think he does.” 


I love watching my dogs interact.  I also enjoy analyzing what they’re doing. The one thing I don’t understand is the following: Where did Vixen, Kennicott, and Tok get the idea to play mind games?  I’ll get back to you when I figure that out.