Mel is 12!

It seems like just last month I was writing a Happy Birthday blog for Mel when he turned eleven, and doubting that I’d have the opportunity to do it again. Well, as with so many things, Mel just had to prove me wrong, and he turned 12 over the weekend. He celebrated his birthday by creating a five-dog fracas in the dining room. He likes to stalk the puppies, who usually just get up and move when they see him coming since he doesn’t move too fast any more. Somehow, he managed to get to Stout and bite him. Somewhere along the line Stout has realized that he’s as big as Mel and he doesn’t have to take any more abuse, so he jumped up and pinned Mel to the floor. Beli and Lou joined Stout in trying to whomp Mel, and Nock saw that as a great opportunity to go after Beli. Fortunately for Mel, Beli and Stout’s breeding is holding true, and instead of tearing out his throat or guts, they just held him down and made a lot of noise. Lou isn’t so controlled, and the only mark on Mel from the whole melee was a little puncture on his nose where Lou bit him. Fortunately for Beli Nock was wearing her muzzle, so the whole thing ended with a minimal amount of blood. I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved that Mel was okay, since he’s pretty frail, or if I should just kill him myself. I decided “relieved that he’s okay” was the easier course. So, I now really doubt that I’ll be doing this again in a year, but we’re really glad Mel made it this far and has adapted so well to Belize.