Sibling rivalry

Being an only child has several advantages, one of them being you get your parents' undivided attention. And after 11 years of getting used to that, you don't quite know how to handle a puppy, a Lab puppy at that, who wants to wriggle her way into your parents' good graces too.

For as long as Lyka was a baby, she was convinced I was some kind of two legged puppy as well and therefore, we were equals. But that also meant competing for attention, at least in her head it did. So we had a game. Whenever we would watch TV, I would lie down on the couch and lay my head on my mom's lap. The minute Lyka saw that she would come running over and push her cold nose into my face and try and budge my head out of the way. And trust me there's only so long you can take a dog licking you. Once I was successfully moved out of the way, Lyka would have full access to my mother and thereafter, proceed to sit docilely while my mother petted her. She didn't take very kindly to intrusions on "mommy & me" time by me.

As the years passed, Lyka's first priority would always be my mother. For obvious reasons of course, my mother got to spend more time with her at home, was the giver of meals and generally has that "mom" stamp. So every time my mother would leave town on work or family visits, Lyka would initially go into depression and refuse to eat. Then sense would dawn on her and she would gobble down every little bite we'd give her for fear that with mommy gone, lord only knows when we strange non-mommy people would feed her. So she had better make the most of the situation. The hand that feeds is always the true master.