Having a puppy is certainly a challenge sometimes. Jack has grown alot in two weeks. He's up to 15 pounds now and already outgrown the puppy collar I had. He loves to track rabbits in the back yard and he is not making a lot of progress in the "no teeth!" program. He is an absolute delight.
When I sit and watch him playing I can't help but think about all the wonderful dogs that have shared my life but the one that I miss the most was Boy, a German Shepherd. I was single and in my 20's and Boy was my constant companion. I took him everywhere, even to work when I could. He was one of those dogs that seem to read your mind. He always knew what I wanted and he never disappointed. He, on his own, learned to carry groceries back from the store, without ever tearing the brown paper bags they used to use. He never needed a leash, always staying by my side. He knew when I was happy and when I needed comfort. It was like he was a living breathing piece of my soul.
All that being said, I'm glad I had him back then when people were not so quick to sue or complain, because he knew how to use his teeth and he he wasn't shy about it. He just could not tolerate a man being aggressive towards a woman. If a man yelled at a woman that earned him a level stare and a deep growl, but if the man was foolish enough to raise his hand to woman, Boy would take him down. I remember a time we were out for a walk and came around a corner just in time to see a man punch a woman in the face knocking her to the ground. Before I could react, Boy had hit the man full on, knocking him to the ground and he had his teeth firmly around the man's throat, all the while snarling. Boy kept a firm grip but didn't puncture the man's throat. I helped the woman up and took my time getting to the man. "I don't think my dog likes men who hit women." The man lay perfectly still but said, "Call him off. She made me mad." Boy bit down just a hair harder. "Please" the man said carefully. "I won't hit her again." Casually I told Boy to let go. He did immediately and backed off but didn't stop growling. I told the man that if he hit the woman again he was going to get another visit from us and the dog might get a little more rough. I even gave the woman my phone number. Today we might have gotten arrested or sued, but then all the man wanted was to get away from us.
Boy also knew just how much force was needed. Once we were on our front porch watching while two young neighbor girls played with a boy from down the street. The boy was a bit of a bully and at one point he put a pail on the younger girl's head and began to hit the pail with a stick. Boy was off the porch in a flash. He grabbed a firm mouthful of the seat of the boy jeans without getting the boy himself and set off down the street dragging the boy backwards till he reached the boy's house, then he carefully backed him up the porch to the door and shifted his eyes to me. I got the hint and rang the doorbell. In a moment the mother answered. She took in the sight of her son being firmly gripped by a large German Shepherd and said with a sigh, "What's he done now." "He was getting a little rough on the neighbor girls up by my house."
Without a word she grabbed her son, which Boy had let go of, and gave Boy a pat on the head. "Good dog" she told him."Thanks for bringing him home."
Can't picture someone being casual about that today, but then I expect the boy was going to get in trouble over scaring the little girl. Last .thing I heard as we headed to our house was, "Wait until your father gets home."
thing i heard as Boy and I headed home was a faint, "Wint until your father gets home!"
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