One is big, kind of oafish, but tender, loving, relaxed, and compliant, albeit with an occasional bent to break the rules. The other is small, tiny really, full of energy, excitable to the point of hyperventilation, and he has a "little guy" need to dominate complex. They compete relentlessly for attention, but they gladly share everything with each other. They do everything together, eat, sleep, walk, play. They're good friends, buddies, pals, amigos del corazón.

Max, the gentle big guy, is from Alaska. Abelito, the excitable littlle guy, is from Colombia. But, somehow they have learned to speak each other's languages. I call them "the boys", mostly because it would offend them greatly if I called them "the dogs." Max is our Golden Retriever, and Abelito is our Yorkshire Terrier (a Yorky). Okay, they're just dogs, but to us they're part of the family.

And, after watching them day in and day out for the last several years, I think that there are helpful principles about human relationships that can be learned from observing the boys' interaction with each other.

Like, "keep things light and playful" even when what's at stake is something that you really care about. When Abelito first came to our home, he was only 1 and Max was only 2, they quickly began to vie for attention. If one was being petted, the other needed some love as well. But they never got angry with each other. Instead, when Abelito was getting too much attention, in Max's mind, he would just pick Abelito up by the collar, carry him across the room, drop him, and then return for solo attention. It took Abelito a few times, shaking his head and pondering as to why he had been banished, to figure out that he could just race back over for another share of the love.

Or, "teamwork" always allows you to accomplish more. Our backyard is surrounded by a fence which "in theory" is supposed to keep the boys home; roaming the neighborhood unsupervised is frowned upon by all, especially the neighbors. But, teamwork can accomplish so much. Max, the braun, and Abelito, the brains, working together can escape most any obstacle. First, it was Max digging a hole under the gate so Abelito could slip under -- not sure Max figured out that he was getting the short end of the stick on that one. Then it was Max pushing on every board of the fence until he found the one, the only one out of -- what? more than 200 boards? -- loosely nailed. I'm quite certain Abelito gave the big guy instructions.

And, then it was Max turning the handle on the gate with his mouth -- definitely the little brain's idea. Then, it was Abelito slithering between the few inches of space between the doggy fence and the house to get off the back deck -- just call him Houdini. All else failing, they just teamed up for a frontal assault on the door -- "if we charge in numbers when it opens, one of us is bound to get through", I can imagine Abelito saying -- probably in Spanish. I seriously thought about taking their little identification tags off so no one would know where to return them.

"Eating together" builds comradery. Max and Abelito share the same food and water bowls. They never fight over food, but they do compete. If Abelito gets to the food first, Max simply lowers his head and flips the little latino loopty-loop out of the way. If Max is hogging the bowl, Abelito slips between the big guy's legs and snatches food to take back under the dining table. Under the dining table is where Abelito takes all the treats that are distributed for good behavior -- its harder for the big guy to maneuver under there with all those chairs -- although Max does try, after gulping down his treat in a single bite he's always tempted by the smell of Abelito's, but he can't get under there fast enough.

"Loyalty" is paramount, despite all, friends to the end. At the end of the day -- or even in the middle of the day -- just snuggle up and relax together. Abelito quickly decided that the softest and warmest place to sleep was on top of Max. Max never cared, it probably felt like having a bed warmer or an electric blanket.

If you live in South Anchorage, and you happen to see the boys roaming and on the lamm from their latest great escape, please call. Home wouldn't be home without them.