The Crazy Banzai Twins

We are continuing to ruin Pepper’s life. (I like to imagine her as Lindsay Lohan in Freaky Friday. “You’re ruining my liiiiiife-uh!”)

First of all, she is finally starting to seriously think about playing and has even grabbed toys a few times… but the games never last very long and she doesn’t seem to want to actually grab a toy while Auggie has ahold of it (and definitely no tug games.) Auggie thinks the answer to this is to run after her and throw toys at her, and when she still won’t bite, bark in her face and pounce at her and sometimes hump her.
This does not amuse the Pepper.
In fact she seems distressed at the thought that she may want to play with Auggie. She play bows at him, and then immediately looks confused. She grabs at a toy he has, then drops it immediately and looks confused. It’s not really funny but at the same time it is also hilarious. INCREASING DESIRES TO PLAY WITH THE CRAZY AUGGIE IS CAUSE FOR ALARM.

Second, I STILL can’t get it through my thick skull that she is not Auggie and I can’t play with her the way I play with Auggie… She was getting a drink in the other room but I got up to make sure that was all she was doing, and when I walked behind her she startled. My response to this was to make it into a game, so I started jumping at her, all “IIIIII’M gonna getcha!!!!” She was game to hop around and let me chase her, but the game took a terrible turn when our chase led into my bedroom, she realized she was cornered at a dead end, and she then flattened herself to the floor like I was going to murder her. *beats head against wall* So… no chasing games, unless we’re outside most likely where she isn’t likely to end up cornered. (Auggie’s response when cornered, just for comparison, is to turn into wiggly giggly puppy and do his best to squirm past me so we can resume the chase.) Derp derp.

I said I’d give her two weeks to learn to play with Auggie, and this Saturday will have been two weeks. Mom is voting one more week, or at least that’s what she said yesterday. I haven’t asked for Dad’s vote yet. Next Thursday night Auggie and I are packing up to go to an agility trial for the weekend and I’m worried about what to do with her while I’m gone if she’s still here. I don’t know if I want to take her. For one thing I’m looking forward to one-on-one time, just Auggie and me. For another I don’t know if she would do okay being at an agility trial all day, and we’re inside so it will be LOUD… and of course Sunday we are supposed to go do herding so… what to do with her? I don’t know if I want to leave her here or take her to her breeder’s for the weekend or what.

I don’t know what to do about her. She drives me batty by not letting me out of her sight. I’ve stepped on her and tripped over her probably fifty or sixty times just this week because she is always glued so tightly to me (if I step on her enough times she’ll eventually figure out to not stick to me so closely, right? Right..?) She is in so many ways the exact opposite of Auggie and the opposite of the kind of dog I want.
But I love her.