Sili and Patience

My dog Sili had the patience of a saint. She never complained. She never lost her cool. She never turned on Cashew, though i myself was ready to pull my hair out 80 percent of the time. Sili had infinite forgiveness for Cashew. She seemed more amused by her behavior than threatened or upset. There were plenty of things that Cashew did that im sure were difficult for Sili to deal with. For example, Cashew missed her mom. She frequently tried to nurse, rather aggressively, from Sili’s empty nipples. She would bite them until she’d made a cut, which was why she spent her time in the crate when i couldn’t watch her. I couldn’t leave them unsupervised for fear she’d take one of Sili’s nipples off when i wasn’t looking. She was constantly trying to chew Sili’s collar into a gummy mess of sticky, wet leather. She had a habit of using Sili like a jungle gym. She had absolutely no spacial boundaries and would lay right on top of Sili and use her like a pillow. Sili sat patiently while Cashew got petted but if i pet Sili, Cashew would bark in a high-pitched screaming noise until i stopped. So every time Sili got loved on she would have to listen to angry yelling and wasn’t sure if it was directed at her (it wasn’t). Cashew tried to eat all of Sili’s food and steal her treats. She constantly took her bone (i gave it back, don’t worry). She even kicked her out of the water bowl. She would hog it until she’d drank her fill and then walk away leaving Sili to lick the leftover from the bottom of the bowl. I got her more water every time but Cashew had to have the first taste of the second bowl too. I knew right away Cashew was going to be dominant. Not just because she would grow bigger than Sili or because that was my hope when i bought her. I knew because during her first vet check-up, at 5 lbs and barely able to stand up, she walked right up to a great pyrenees in the waiting room, stood there on her stocky legs and went, “BARK!” The great pyrenees just looked at her. He seemed unafraid but she was sure she and her 5 lb self was scary as ****. She had balls, this one.