Housepets!

I wonder if we are going to see them leave or is the remainder of the arc going to be more like Hearts and Minds and we're going to have a heart to heart coming to Jesus moment and come to terms with what King's feeling, what Sasha might be feeling, and Bailey's feelings about everything before moving on. We won't see them have girls night (at least in this chapter) but instead spend the next 5 strips getting it all out there and possibly setting up something big later.

Now we have annoyed Bailey. I also agree, this is a question I've had about King and Bailey. How much is instinct dominating his life, and how much does Bailey understand about K8ngs internal struggle?

He’s still to understand
things are different now.
He used to think of steak
but now he needs Pup chow.
Stop thinking Human ways;
give in to Canine thought;
don’t do as they say,
just do as you ought.
Bailey’ll keep you straight,
she’ll never do you wrong;
where you are weak, young King,
your Queen is really strong.

It is an important question though. I feel we will get some more details on this in the next strip (or later in this arc at least)

I vote for Bailey shaking King.

Gbr23 wrote:I vote for Bailey shaking King.

She may want to, but there are a bunch of unanswered questions.

Like, what is Baileys attitude? Does she see dogs as monogamous? If she'd caught King bathing Sasha, would she have been happy, indifferent or angry?

Take it a few steps further, if Sasha had puppies that were half Corgi, would Bailey have been ticked off or accepting? How about Kevin?

It's an odd bit of world building we haven't seen.

Bailey's "understand" is probably more of a "90% of the male dogs in Babylon Gardens are attracted to Sasha, you're just joining the club" understand.

leinglo wrote:Bailey's "understand" is probably more of a "90% of the male dogs in Babylon Gardens are attracted to Sasha, you're just joining the club" understand.

This seems the most probable to me.

Douglas Collier wrote:

leinglo wrote:Bailey's "understand" is probably more of a "90% of the male dogs in Babylon Gardens are attracted to Sasha, you're just joining the club" understand.

This seems the most probable to me.

Yeah, it likely is.

IceKitsune wrote:It is an important question though. I feel we will get some more details on this in the next strip (or later in this arc at least)

I agree. I mean, she should have known for a long time by now that humans think differently.

D-Rock wrote:Title Text: keys, wallet, phone bounce against the floor

How much can their collars hold anyway? and where do the items go when they take them off? Are there miniature pockets sewn into the back?

Also: We're getting more King/Bailey relationship stuff, Yay! I've always loved their arcs.

I've kinda had the feeling for a while now that poly stuff isn't taboo among pets. When Grape's relationship with Peanut became clear it was more of a "Oh, funny misunderstanding" concerning Max and not " Oh no this might be cheating"

Another major clue being that Sasha has a pretty clear of the difference between physical and romantic intimacy.

D-Rock wrote:

IceKitsune wrote:It is an important question though. I feel we will get some more details on this in the next strip (or later in this arc at least)

I agree. I mean, she should have known for a long time by now that humans think differently.

I think she does, and it always seemed she understood that since she found out he was once human. But I dont think the two of them ever sat down and talked about it. It seems like it comes up once in a while, issue by issue. Like her trying to get him to lick his puppies clean. He couldn't do it and she was annoyed.

It seems a bit risque for HP, but could we be headed into Bailey reminding him that dogs are pack animals and that Sasha would be a fine addition? I can't really see us going in that direction, but it would be interesting world building.

Shadotterdan wrote:I've kinda had the feeling for a while now that poly stuff isn't taboo among pets. When Grape's relationship with Peanut became clear it was more of a "Oh, funny misunderstanding" concerning Max and not " Oh no this might be cheating"

Another major clue being that Sasha has a pretty clear of the difference between physical and romantic intimacy.

One thing I've always found odd about that is Peanut's anguished "I'VE BEEN CHEATING ON YOU?!" when he found out about Tarot and the Spirit Dragon being two different people. So it is established that sometimes the pets would consider a romantic interest with a different pet to be taboo.

In fact, it's really odd that Tarot is fine with Peanut and Grape being romantic (with chemistry no less) when the feelings between the Spirit Dragon and Peanut caused such a large rift previously that they made him choose between them.

How many times has Bailey turned King upside-down and shaken the sense back into his head before?

Ruska wrote:

D-Rock wrote:Title Text: keys, wallet, phone bounce against the floor

How much can their collars hold anyway? and where do the items go when they take them off? Are there miniature pockets sewn into the back?

Housepets: Remnants of the American Nomad established "animals... have pockets on the insides of their collars which carry our own wallets and IDs, and for some of the luckier ones, cell phones..." (and Fox puts his wallet in his collar in Deliberations Over Ice Cream). The title text for Backstage Pass ("If you want to know how I was carrying a cell phone while wearing a thin collar, I *static*.") established there is no explanation for how it works.

I'm not sure how upside down shaking advances a dialogue.........

NHWestoN wrote:I'm not sure how upside down shaking advances a dialogue.........

Shakes the sense back into one's head, instead of having it all pooling in the feet and stuff.

IceKitsune wrote:

Douglas Collier wrote:

leinglo wrote:Bailey's "understand" is probably more of a "90% of the male dogs in Babylon Gardens are attracted to Sasha, you're just joining the club" understand.

This seems the most probable to me.

Yeah, it likely is.

I have to agree as it does seem every male dog is attracted to her.

It looks like this is a “two people talk about their relationship for a while (and hopefully grow closer because of it)” arc. And while that is exactly my trash, I understand that some people were hoping that the comic would focus on Sasha. Here’s hoping that we see more of her later on.

Ruska wrote:

Shadotterdan wrote:I've kinda had the feeling for a while now that poly stuff isn't taboo among pets. When Grape's relationship with Peanut became clear it was more of a "Oh, funny misunderstanding" concerning Max and not " Oh no this might be cheating"

Another major clue being that Sasha has a pretty clear of the difference between physical and romantic intimacy.

One thing I've always found odd about that is Peanut's anguished "I'VE BEEN CHEATING ON YOU?!" when he found out about Tarot and the Spirit Dragon being two different people. So it is established that sometimes the pets would consider a romantic interest with a different pet to be taboo.

In fact, it's really odd that Tarot is fine with Peanut and Grape being romantic (with chemistry no less) when the feelings between the Spirit Dragon and Peanut caused such a large rift previously that they made him choose between them.

I could imagine it has to do with how the pets like each other.
Tarot for example was really annoyed with Dragon and knew Dragon just used her as some sort of toy.
On the other hand is Tarot on good terms with Grape, even if Grape thought in the beginning that Tarot was weird or thought they needed some advice. Overall Grape also seems to be okay with Tarot.
Same with Sasha and Bailey, they're friends and cool with each other, maybe that's the reason.
Kevin also seemed to be cool with Sasha making out with Fox and they're also on good terms.

Another reason why Bailey isn't so bothered about is, because she trusts King and has some good intuition about things like that.

Argent wrote:

NHWestoN wrote:I'm not sure how upside down shaking advances a dialogue.........

Shakes the sense back into one's head, instead of having it all pooling in the feet and stuff.

.... which could be a rarely investigated contributor to bunions. Still, as I recollects, one of the last times King and Bailey had one of those human-vice-canine-perceptions - at the time Bailey was sent away from the farm - Bailey's calm and well-reasoned exposition ended with Bino getting his face punched in!

So Bailey turning King upside down and shaking him around like a mad dog has apparently happened before. Be careful Bailey, that might scramble his brain even more. I wish we had gotten to see it though.

Well, okay, then, that makes sense; now we know why King's brains are always scrambled...
--
King's feeling a little shaken,
He has the hots for Sasha, ooh,
He was afraid his wife would care
So his brain went from mush to goo.

King, you're a dog now,
When will you ever remember that?
Give into the attraction, it's alright,
Heart from zero to sixty in a second flat.

The corgi's just plain adorkable
When he's gotten himself all wound up
But really, a better term would be adorable
To describe this flustered pup.

Bailey seems okay with this,
Much to King's surprise
But hey, take the opportunity
And catch it where it lies.

This can only turn out better
For both of our dogs on scene
Because he's made it obvious
That his restraint's a mere smoke screen.

I think this is the first time I haven't caught the new page as soon as it was uploaded.

I'm getting a very "inclusive OR" vibe out of Bailey's response. ("Are you saying you understand or do you actually understand?" "Yes.") And it's been a little over a decade, and you'd think those instincts would be more of an issue earlier on than now, but I guess as time goes on it's just exchanging one set of problems for another.

Well, you and Sasha like each other, then, and your wife Bailey seems to well know that, King. But, it's now better to put a brake to such instincts. It's known that the dogs of Babylon Garden always liked Sasha, but for King it's long time to stop with that... Whoa, Bailey, you put King upside down when he says something you don't like? That's a sort of power abuse against your husband.

Cesco wrote:Whoa, Bailey, you put King upside down when he says something you don't like? That's a sort of power abuse against your husband.

She’s from a simpler way of life. It’s probably just how she solves problems.

HundKatzeMaus wrote:

Ruska wrote:

Shadotterdan wrote:I've kinda had the feeling for a while now that poly stuff isn't taboo among pets. When Grape's relationship with Peanut became clear it was more of a "Oh, funny misunderstanding" concerning Max and not " Oh no this might be cheating"

Another major clue being that Sasha has a pretty clear of the difference between physical and romantic intimacy.

One thing I've always found odd about that is Peanut's anguished "I'VE BEEN CHEATING ON YOU?!" when he found out about Tarot and the Spirit Dragon being two different people. So it is established that sometimes the pets would consider a romantic interest with a different pet to be taboo.

In fact, it's really odd that Tarot is fine with Peanut and Grape being romantic (with chemistry no less) when the feelings between the Spirit Dragon and Peanut caused such a large rift previously that they made him choose between them.

I could imagine it has to do with how the pets like each other.
Tarot for example was really annoyed with Dragon and knew Dragon just used her as some sort of toy.
On the other hand is Tarot on good terms with Grape, even if Grape thought in the beginning that Tarot was weird or thought they needed some advice. Overall Grape also seems to be okay with Tarot.
Same with Sasha and Bailey, they're friends and cool with each other, maybe that's the reason.
Kevin also seemed to be cool with Sasha making out with Fox and they're also on good terms.

Another reason why Bailey isn't so bothered about is, because she trusts King and has some good intuition about things like that.

The best way to view this is in terms of "different strokes for different blokes" if I'm using that expression correctly. It's neither a 1:1 comparison between real world animals and the pets and neither is saying that the pets are exactly like humans. We also can't assume that EVERY PET feels the same way. While one pet like Sasha or Kevin might feel like a open poly relationship is acceptable there are those like Fox and Max that aren't willing or be happy to take part in such a relationship. Fox was caught off guard by Kevin's intrusion on his make-out session which shows that while he was susceptible to his romantic desires he was not expecting them to be cool with him making-out either and reacted the way someone who expected them to be in a monogamous relationship to react to having their girlfriend caught sucking face with another guy. He expected Kevin to be upset to him being with Sasha. Honestly when you date Sasha, there is an unspoken agreement that Sasha is not loyal (ask Bino) and for any relationship to work, you have to accept that.
Max has his own issues that stem from his codependence on Grape which is while he is more "accepting" of Grapes romantic interests but internally not okay with it but chooses to suppress those feelings instead of confronting them.
Even then though, having feelings for others is not the same as engaging in a romantic relationship. Grape and Peanut have feelings for one another but are not in a romantic relationship or willing to engage in one given that they have significant others. I think that is one of the reasons Tarot was so smug about the whole thing.
To be even more honest, the only pet that has actually and repeatedly seen flaunting around the neighborhood hooking up with multiple partners are once is Sasha. Everyone else has been in more monogamous relationships (I count Spring and Summer as one singular). They've had flings but nothing that can be really considered a relationship of any type anymore than the average make-out session between teens in shows on Freeform. Just because Sasha is a you-know doesn't mean every other pet is going to start bouncing around. Again How they feel about such a thing is still more determined by them personally not what species they are. In that regard they are more like humans because humans have different opinions on relationships that vary depending on the society one finds themselves in.
One thing I want to take a stab at is that the mindset of pets is not as prudish as humans but not as open as normal animals because they again are not 1:1 comparison to either. If I had to guess I would say that the pets wouldn't be horrified by the notion of someone making out or "cheating" to the point where they would have to break up like humans but at the same time not every relationship or even most pet relationships are polyamorous.

Say, what’s Bailey actually doing in the first panel? Putting away groceries? Making a bed?

Pumkin6 wrote:Say, what’s Bailey actually doing in the first panel? Putting away groceries? Making a bed?

Looks like smoothing a blanket to me. So making a bed.

Pumkin6 wrote:

Cesco wrote:Whoa, Bailey, you put King upside down when he says something you don't like? That's a sort of power abuse against your husband.

She’s from a simpler way of life. It’s probably just how she solves problems.

Maybe it's a husky thing. Or throwback to an older comic: Bringing Up Father: Maggie and Jiggs.

I think she only did it because like now King was spazzing out about something but it was much worse when it happened back then.

dr_eirik wrote:

Pumkin6 wrote:Say, what’s Bailey actually doing in the first panel? Putting away groceries? Making a bed?

Looks like smoothing a blanket to me. So making a bed.

It would make the most sense, since it's most likely Sasha's bed.

dr_eirik wrote:

Pumkin6 wrote:Say, what’s Bailey actually doing in the first panel? Putting away groceries? Making a bed?

Looks like smoothing a blanket to me. So making a bed.

As Popeye the Sailor says, "You butter'd yah bed and now yah gots to lie in it." Apropos of nuthin'.

So remind me, when did Bailey turn King upside down and shake the sense back into his head the last time?

Discostew wrote:So remind me, when did Bailey turn King upside down and shake the sense back into his head the last time?

We'll never know the fun they have after the pups go to bed.

Welsh Halfwit wrote:

Discostew wrote:So remind me, when did Bailey turn King upside down and shake the sense back into his head the last time?

We'll never know the fun they have after the pups go to bed.

I had that same thought but thought it was too weird to say out loud

Pumkin6 wrote:

Welsh Halfwit wrote:

Discostew wrote:So remind me, when did Bailey turn King upside down and shake the sense back into his head the last time?

We'll never know the fun they have after the pups go to bed.

I had that same thought but thought it was too weird to say out loud

They probably play it in the living room, over the sofa.

For some reason I am getting quite disturbed with the way this conversation is heading.

Amazee Dayzee wrote:For some reason I am getting quite disturbed with the way this conversation is heading.

I'm sure folks are hinting about the Milton-Bradley board games King and Bailey play once the lit`l'uns conk off. Bet Kitsune plays a mean game of Candyland.