Jan had frequently noticed Marge's usually cheerful face changing rapidly to a sullen scowl if she came out of the supermarket and found someone talking to or petting Rex. Occasionally she tried to remember if this similar change of personality took place when Marge encountered a man being friendly to the handsome German shepherd. But this line of thought was usually futile, as Jan could not recall any such instance. It was almost always some housewife who could be seen being friendly to the sturdy, sleek dog.

Not that she pondered this overmuch. It was simply something she occasionally gave a modicum of thought.

Marge's possessiveness also seemed to continue at home, for she kept the dog chained securely and confined to the Levitt grounds. It was never allowed to roam free like other dogs in the neighborhood, and occasionally even Steve remarked that such a house dog should be more savage, instead of so friendly as Rex obviously was. Jan didn't know much about dogs, but she knew enough to know that this observation of Steve's was fundamentally correct. Logically speaking, a house German shepherd like Rex should be more vicious. But it was obvious that the dog's nature was sunny and affectionate.

Not that one ever got much chance to find out. Marge didn't even like to bring Rex next door when she stopped by for coffee on the odd morning. At least not since that morning when the dog had nuzzled Jan's leg in an over friendly fashion.

Marge had an unusual excuse to justify her possessiveness, though, and she self-consciously brought this up on every possible occasion. To Jan it seemed like a bad case of 'protesting over much', but Marge's justification usually went roughly as follows: namely, that ever since Rex had sired the Boardman pups down the road by that German shepherd she-bitch Carla, the Levitts didn't want to take any chance of having any lawsuits due to Rex's cavorting.

Which seemed reasonable on the face of it – but then on the other hand Jan had never heard of anyone being sued for letting their dog out and having it sire unintentionally some other dog. That was, after all, the way of the world, wasn't it? You couldn't legislate animal biology very well.