Mixing It Up With the Big Guy

Blarney always approaches big dogs with an attitude of dominance. "I may be small but inside I'm tensile steel with teeth! Mess with me and you might regret it." When reality unfolds he's putting every ounce of energy into his bark and heading for the Mexican border! I was walking with him one evening when we entered a closed in path. Suddenly a large dog appeared around the far bend. Blarney turned around and hightailed it back the way we had come. Took many ball squeaks and soothing words to bring him back.

Our friends Carol and Wilf have a big husky-malemute cross called Nook, that hangs with wolves and coyotes most of the time because they live in a wilderness area. He's the most gentle dog you could possibly imagine. His basic greeting is to lean his big head against you (about waist height) and hope for a scratch behind the ears. We tried to explain this to Blarney before we arrived. "You know Blarney, all big dogs aren't mean. You should give them a chance." Still, we arrived in a state of trepidation. Would Blarney make a big friend or bark himself into a nervous disorder? There were some tense moments while he cowered under the car and trailer or wrapped himself around our legs, but eventually peace prevailed. Once he actually followed Nook into the bush to pursue a coyote. Now that's brassy! He can't even see clearly over lawn grass. By the end of the visit he'd even developed a tolerating relationship with their horse... bark and run! If Blarney ever does apply to be a farm dog, he'll probably have to resign himself to middle management where words and barks really matter.
PLAYING WITH NOOK