He guards the chewy that he doesn’t really want with every ounce of ferocity in his tiny body.

He snaps at the other dog as he pads by on his way to the water bowl.

He glares accusingly at the cats who have no interest in his trivial acquisition.

He nods off, but wakes with a start at the slightest sound or shift or movement. Immediately on guard against the theft of what belongs to him.

His body shakes with anxiety and his growls and rumbles sound like “mine, mine, mine” as he loses sleep and friends and sanity protecting what he doesn’t really want but doesn’t want anyone else to have.