"Ghost, kick his ass!"

???Did I really say that???

Hell, I practically shouted it. Poor guys - Little Bear really is a good pup, he means no harm. But in the morning he's all rested and ready, and looking for some fun. He wants somebody to play with him! but there's nobody around but these aging, dour dogs who've lived a quiet life too long to welcome all this tomfoolery. But they're also too ingrained against just knocking a puppy down and sitting on him for their own goods. So we have the spectacle of poor Ghost driven to distraction, a bouncing puppy in his face no matter where he turns, desperately wanting a quiet scratch from Uncle Joel or some time to himself and clearly not going to get it, too restrained to do more than curl his lip and turn away. The others are a bit less inhibited in demonstrating their displeasure, but still won't take the little guy in hand. This isn't a matter for high justice; he isn't breaking any of my rules. Maintaining order within the pack is the dogs' responsibility: particularly Magnus'. I wait for the dogs to impose some order on him, and I wait in vain.

I'm not sure what the problem is. They really don't dislike Little Bear; he did his trick with the paw in the porch again yesterday evening, and they were all there and all concerned until the matter was resolved. Under other circumstances they show him little affection, and given his proclivity for tail-chewing I can hardly blame them. But there is a middle ground between grump'n'bear it and mounting his head on a pole. I do rather wish they'd seek it.