My Protector

A funny thing happened last night. James was laying on the couch, and I walked over to him and leaned over to give him a kiss, but instead (in a playful but rough way) he quickly grabbed my arm and said "what are you doing?" in a mock angry voice. I said "hey!" loudly and Red was there in a split second. He wedged his way in between James and I, and was pushing James' hand off my arm until he couldn't hold on anymore. Once James let go, Red just stood there and looked between us, watching.

Red sometimes gets jealous and wedges himself between James and I when we are hugging or snuggling or whatever, but this was different. I got the distinct feeling he was protecting me from what he thought was a threat. It happened so fast, but I could tell by his body language that's what he was doing.

I was really impressed with this reaction. Just when you think your dog's a big mushball and wouldn't protect you from anything, something like this changes how you view him. I thought it was really interesting.