"Really? Did you really met that guy with the German Shepherd?". Now she made me feel uncomfortable, and I stumbled: "Eh, yes. Why? Is that bad?".
There were some red flags. The guy didn't made a lot of effort to initiate a meet with Kenzo. And he did say his elderly German Shepherd girl could "protest", as he described it. I always walk away with red flags like that. And why I didn't do exactly that this time, I really don't know.
The GSD girl was a bit of a loner. She didn't seem very eager to meet us. She wasn't nervous or aggressive either. And as Kenzo didn't perform any calming signals - he just wanted to come closer - I thought there was not too much to worry about, and hoped we wouldn't regret following my feelings on this one.
It went very well. The GSD girl did interact a little with Kenzo, and like he said, "shouted" a few times at him. The guy seemed to be a little surprised too, the "shouting" didn't scare us away. But Kenzo loves that, and is used to that from home - with Viva. It just motivates him to do an even better peacock impression.
"You better be careful when you run into them. Many people had problems with that dog". I could imagine that, but it didn't necessarily meant the guy and his GSD were doing anything wrong. Still, I only met them once, who am I to know, and changed the subject to something else.
Occasionally we met the couple again, and when I didn't have Viva with me, we let them meet. With Viva around, we just nodded to each other or raised our hands as a hello. Kenzo was still always happy to meet her, tried to impress her and invite to play. But she always stayed reserved - she didn't even accept a treat from me - although she always had a smile on her face when we met again.
One day I was rushing home with Kenzo because I was late for work when we noticed them going on the far end of the trail, slightly off it, like they usually do. It was months ago we had seen them last, and I was in doubt what to do. I just waived, and felt bad I really didn't have time, and Kenzo and me picked up our pace again.
The GSD girl had noticed us as well and her head got higher while she saw us passing by in the distance. Just when we passed them at that 90-degree angle, where she realized we were not coming over, she decided to drop all her reservations and took a sprint towards us, as fast as her old legs could go.
She greeted Kenzo loud and jumped up as much as she could. Then she pushed her body against my legs and just stood there. She wanted a rub. Our first rub. It just took a minute and off she went again, back to daddy, who was still standing there with his jaw-bone dropped on the floor.
I always thought she was special. And now she made me feel special. The local-dog-gazette is not going to believe me.
Interesting. A while back, Lilly and I had a little trouble (getting chased) by an off-leash GSD new to our neighborhood. I threw food to slow the dog down. I hollered for the runner to call her dog, etc. She eventually did leash him up, but when they ran past us, she didn't say a word.
ReplyDeleteNow that Lilly cannot go on walks, I go by myself. I'm not sure if the GSD runner knows it's me, but she does say hello as she runs by, and her dogs are always leashed now.
"the guy" also always had her leashed. He seemed a very responsible owner to me. Just not very well treated by other dog owners.
DeleteAww, I love this! Back when I used to take my sister's Boxer, Daisy, to the dog park a lot (Riley is not a dog park fan, so we don't go), a man would bring his older female GSD, "Chelsea." She was kind of like the GSD you talked about in this post--she was sort of reserved and would "shout" sometimes at the other dogs. But I'll tell you one thing, she was never aggressive or went after any of the other dogs, and if her owner would tell her to lie down or sit or come (or whatever the command happened to be) she would do it in an instant! Very well trained dog, and unlike a lot of the other dog owners there at the park, this guy was in tune with his dog and made sure he supervised her interactions with the other dogs (as he knew she could be a bit shy and sometimes grumpy).
ReplyDeleteI think GSD's are absolutely gorgeous dogs. There were a few in Riley's therapy dog training class and they were all very well behaved. (Sorry for rambling, but I just loved the story you told!!). :)
Lovely, you can never forget dogs like Chelsea, when you look past that first impression - and you are not rambling at all !
DeleteWhat a sweet story -- and one that tells you to trust your gut rather than the local gossip. I'm glad you -- and Kenzo -- gave the GSD a chance. And I'm sure the owner is grateful to you too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Edie, and we are rewarded with some great new friends !
DeleteI have one of those goofy GSDs that loves to bark and hop around. It's a bit embarrassing because other dog owners sometimes give us the disgusted looks as well. I'm so glad that you wrote this post - it helps me remember he's just being a German Shepherd. And there's nothing wrong with that, even if other people don't get it.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Amy! and GSD's are some of our fav play mates, exactly because they are goofy, love to bark and hop around !
DeleteSuch a lovely story, Leo - what a relief for "the guy" to find someone willing to give his dog a chance. It was a surprising and happy little gift she gave you, dashing over to say hello =) You and Kenzo have been chosen, LOL!
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