Yesterday afternoon, in an attempt to placate my dogs after leaving them to their own devices for most of the weekend, I packed them up and drove them over to a friend’s house. Nothing like a fenced in yard full of dog toys to make the beagles love me again. Or so I’d hoped.

My friend has one of my dogs’ pups, Samson. It’s great to watch three beagles run around like mad. After the initial sniffings and bladder emptyings, the three revert to their usual routine. The routine pretty much consists of Reme chasing Samson around the yard like mad while Zeus ignores the both of them to play fetch with whoever has enough patience to throw a ball for him incessantly.

It was during one of the rare down moments when the three decided to catch their breath that Samson approached me for some loving. I crouched down to pet him, scratch him, and make a general fuss over him while keeping eye out for Zeus, jealous mama’s boy that he is, and waited for him to interject and demand my undivided attention.

It was then that my friend J squealed with alarm, yanked my arm, and pulled me to my feet. Apparently Zeus was not in the mood to fight for my attention. Instead he simply approached at an angle just out of my line of sight and did what any male beagle would do when his territory is threatened.

He lifted his leg and he peed on me.

That’ll teach me.