Jake's Take: Dominance

A scene from my kitchen, 5:30 am

"You go pee-pee in your toilet " I told him... "no more messes in the floor..understand ?" He just sat staring at me impassively.. like an autistic child. Feigning ignorance but I'd seen the act before..Just under the surface, barely concealed , ran a strong undercurrent of rebelliousness . "I'm not kidding Tina.. You pee in the floor again and there won't be any TV when I get home.. and no playing in the living room either, young man..Dont test me." I gave him the name Tina though he's male. It seemed the right thing to do to demonstrate that I control every aspect of his life; Even his name. Still he sat unmoving, unflinching as I tried my best to intimidate him into some sort of show of aquiescence. He knew instinctively that I was bluffing and didnt bother to pretend otherwise. Finally, frustrated, I could think of nothing else to say and we sat facing each other, each waiting for the other to flinch so he might claim victory in this contest of wills. The moments ticked by for what seemed an eternity as we sat locked in battle. Finally he'd had enough and turned away.. I'd won once again. Tina, unwilling to give me the satisfaction of seeing his disappointment, sat nonchalantly sucking his bottle as if nothing had happened. Not even a hint of pouting in his demeanor. His face a total blank. " That's better.." I said as I prepared to walk out the door.. " I'm glad we understand each other." On inspiration a grabbed a handful of his favorite treats from the table and dropped them at his feet. A gesture meant to insure that there were no lingering hard feelings.. Those rabbits can hold a fearsome and dangerous grudge...

Comments

[gail]

Do you really have a rabbit named Tina?

[Jake H.]

Yes.. Tina the Fat Lard.. a mink colored male rabbit.. the size of a large cat.. that conversation wasnt 100% fiction =)

[gail]

Warren had a rabbit that was supposedly one of the longest lived rabbits they knew of at the Vet Med College of Oklahoma State.(It lived to be about fourteen.) They autopsied it because of its curiosity value. Anyway he says talking to Elmerina "never did a shitload of good."

[gail]

Elmerina hated people.