Sibling Rivalry

We had a case of sibling rivalry last night.

Holly has a crate next to the puppy pen where she can go while I am cleaning the puppy box.  She had already taken her rubber chicken into the crate, to "mother" while away from her pups.  Holly had also taken the rubber chicken into the whelping box while she was in labor waiting for the real thing.

Yesterday Holly took the squeaky fish downstairs and carefully added it to the whelping box.  Ron figured that would be OK as he knew I would start adding toys to the box soon.  While fixing dinner we heard barking and growling from the basement and I dashed down to see what was going on - I assumed that Fernly or Josie and sneaked downstairs to see the pups and Holly was warning them off.

Nope.  Holly was "washing" the squeaky fish, while the other pups were crawling around the box and getting in her way.  She kept moving the toy, perhaps trying to get a response from it, and the pups kept following.  Every time they got too close to the rubber "puppy", she would bark and warn them away.  Of course they don't hear yet, and wouldn't understand the warning anyway. Wonder what was going through her spotted brain?   I removed the toy to return to the family room, and Holly settled down to clean and feed her furry pups.  Guess we'll hide the fish until the pups are older.