1 My little eight-pound papillon Bijou, who wants to be the only dog in the world and who really freaks out when he encounters a significantly larger dog, had to coexist with Hunter, a golden retriever, from last Tuesday afternoon till Friday morning. Hunter is, I'm certain, part Shetland pony, and weighs more than I do, and could also do TV commercials for dog Valium; he's the most laid-back dog in the world, and is certainly Martha's and my next-favorite dog in the whole wide world. Bijou quickly realized that he was not going to get a rise out of Hunter, or even "ride" him, so he decided to calm down and accept the situation. He also did a good job of handling it when Charlie, a genial cocker spaniel from next door, stopped over to join the fun (as we were told he often does). This surprised me greatly. (Bear with me, folks, there's a reason for this narrative.)

However, upon awakening the next day and finding that Hunter was still there, he started to get a tad fussy, and by the third day he was starting to get positively snippy about the whole thing. "Why are you still here?" Hunter, ready as always to be friends, ignored the increasingly hostile attitude, but Bijou was glad to leave on Friday (we weren't -- we were enjoying sitting on our friends' deck for Happy Hour, having supper on the deck and letting the breeze from off the lake temper the 80-degree temperatures).
I can only ascribe my dog's behavior to Global Warming -- or maybe to unpleasant experiences with other dogs in his early life before we got him. Or maybe it's because he's an "only dog" and gets pampered? He's the same way if other animals come into our house -- he can be induced to play nicely for a bit, but pretty soon the growling starts.
Nope, must be Global Warming.