Written by my own paws - Mercy

Last month, I wrote an article about how you know about

How To Tell Whether Your Dogs Are Fighting or Playing

Here is an addition to my former thesis.

Goodness and I love to spar. We love to do our Dog-Fu fighting. Even though we ladies are the best in canine fighting techniques, when we spar, we are only playing.

Some humans name their females after us especially when these ladies are quarrelsome and emotionally ugly. Well, that is of course unfair to us. Why? Because we are not quarrelsome and emotionally ugly. We do not get emotional or nag - we just attack and if necessary bite hard.

Well, back to our Dog-Fu fighting. I just want all the readers to know that I always emerge the champion. So, in this house you have one champion (that's me) and a second champion (that's my sister). You see, I have been very gracious and do not call Goodness a loser. Another reason for not doing so is that my Mommy and Daddy do not permit that.

"We are a family of champions!" Mommy always says that.

Well, Daddy is more biblical, "We are a family of conquerors".

Daddy likes to quote from the bible that states that we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37). I think Daddy should say that we are a family of "more than conquerors"... don't you think? Mmmm, all these theological stuffs are too much for me and worse off for Goodness. She goes 'kuku' whenever he preaches.

Okay, back to our Dog-Fu fighting. The scene is always a calm placid one until I snatch Goodness' bone. You see, my younger sister spends most of her time, chewing and chewing and chewing. It's so annoying to watch her jaw moving continually. Bow wow wow.

With a Ninja's leap, I grab the bone and run. In a flash, Goodness is up and chasing after me. The trick is for me to run and take cover behind the sofa. Goodness leaps up the sofa and falls right into my diversion trap.

You see, if Daddy is around, he will immediately scream, "No sofa!"

Poor Goodness has to reluctantly jump down from the sofa. Her short cut has become a delay instead. By that time, I have promptly buried the bone under the mat. Then I sit on the mat and wait. Sooner or later, the attack will come.

Goodness circles around me like a wolf. Then she charges and tries to knock me off the mat. Hah, I remain motionless - using the technique prescribed by the 'Ancient Canine Arts of War', the mountain does not move. Yes, in canine warfare, the right technique in this situation is to remain calm and unmovable. Bow wow wow!

The charge of the stupid brigade is useless against the mountain. As expected, Goodness trips over my firm well-built muscular body and crashes by the wall. Unperturbed by her stupidity, she charges again. Boom! She crashes against the sofa. After a few waves of attack, she finally settles down and pants with long tongue dripping saliva. Her brain waves finally activate and she goes for my leg.

Once again, the ancient instinct of the wolf triggers her intellect. She goes for the weakest part which is the lower part of the legs. The grip on one of my hind leg is not dangerous but painful. That forces me to rise and retaliate.

The bone is forgotten while we go for each others' legs. This goes on for a few minutes until the losing party retreats under the table. That of course, is usually Goodness. If we spar out on the porch, she will retreat under the car. Guess that is another technique learned from our ancient 'Art of War' manual - 'when in a weak position, retreat!'

The sparring continues until Daddy comes down from his study.

"Enough!"

Daddy's command stops all the fun. Fully satisfied with our sparring session, we settle in our own corners and catch a nap. Peace returns to the house while the forgotten bone lays neglected under the mat.