Thursday, May 11, 2006

Who's afraid of the big, bad Roc?

A very, very odd dog thing in class on Tuesday night. Roc and I train in Open obedience. He just loves it - especially the Peanut Butter Power Bones and bits of string cheese he gets. Essentially Roc "Will Work For Food;" a sign not seen since the Great Depression, but alive and well in his little Griffie brain.

The point is that Roc is totally focused on me and my treat pocket when we're in class. He loves all of it and we have a great time. He gets along with everybody in class, even though he's been known to get a touch snarky about big dogs sniffing his butt elsewhere. This week Marlene and her Staffy Bull Terrier Ben were in class with us. Ben is a big young guy, glossy black coat and just as sweet and silly as anything. He seemed terrified of Roc.

Everytime Ben saw Roc he would either turn his head away, hide behind Marlene's legs, or just turn around completely, pretending Roc wasn't there. Roc and I were standing as "posts" for the figure-8 exercise and Ben wouldn't even go around Roc. Marlene had to change directions so that she was between them.

We couldn't figure out what was going on in Ben's canine mind. Marlene said that he's only acted this way once before - with a Schipperke. Is Ben afraid of little black dogs? Does Ben not realize they are dogs? Who knows what weirdness lurks in the minds of dogs?

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