Fake Shepherds

"OMG. She feels so soft!" I hear that a lot. "Will it last?" some ask too.

It is difficult to pass by people. Zerline already perfected her tactics to reel them in. She stops up and looks right at them with her big puppy eyes. She wags her tail or she makes a little jump when they look back at her. Her little miss irresistible act is already as good as foolproof.

Some attention and petting is all she wants, before she returns to me fulfilled, ready for the next person passing by.

With one particular family of four, instead of following the usual conversation, "What breed is she?" "A Hovawart." "A Hova..what?" "A H.o.v.a.w.a.r.t." I tried a different version. When asked the breed question, I first shared her breed is actually the ancestor of the German Shepherd. Which is true, if you believe what the founders of both breeds had to say on the matter. Although yesterdays popular myth is today's fake news.

It caught their attention, and after the introduction I only had to mention "Hovawart" once. To underline my argument, I pointed to Tilde who makes a better color match and rested my case.

"Who would have thought that." The family father said.

Suddenly the word soft had a whole new meaning to the family and didn't extend beyond Zerline's fur anymore.

I realized my mistake. In my rush to avoid the Golden Retriever pitfall I had exchanged their impression with another breed just as far from a Hovawart as a Golden is.

"I thought it was a Golden," the family father continued.

I don't know what made me say the following words, but in an effort to correct my mistake and not knowing how to accurately describe it one sentence, I said, "They actually also are a lot like them."

Epic fail. But on the bright side, dad now looked up at me and I could read his mind. He thought I was full of it. Me and my fake Shepherds departed, one of us with his tail between his legs.