You’d Better Run For Cover When the Pup Grows Up

Bud and Carol were back from Arizona at long last, and with them, their two Belgian Shepherds, Ike and the one year-old Roger. Of course their dogs and ours have always barked at each other from across the fence; with Cassie, it was out of fun, Cleo more mean-spirited. But it never got serious until their return with the now adolescent Roger.

Cleo and Roger would just be vicious with one another, snarls and snaps like you wouldn’t believe. We would be happy to let them go on and work themselves out, but we can’t have those two screaming to the heavens for all the neighbors to hear, with dog noise a problem in our neighborhood in the past.

So tonight, after I dragged the snarling Cleo into the house yet AGAIN, Carol called over the fence. “Why don’t you bring her over? It calmed them right down at this other house we were at.”

“Well, if you don’t mind….okay, sure.”

So ten minutes later, there we were, Cleo as excited as anything. Until she actually met Roger. Some perspective – This is a Belgian Shepherd:

Totally ready to kick ass and take names.

This is my little lard bucket:

I put her in a shirt for Halloween.

And you know what happened, with stubby Cleo and the dog a good foot taller than her?

She beat the CRAP out of him.

This was a stress reaction, of course. Her tail tended to go between her legs and she hid behind me at the start, but when we got her outside with Roger, she’d wander about and put him in his place if he tried to get near her. Eventually she decided it was okay to sniff at him, but he was quick to get out of this little pit viper’s way if she decided to walk past him.

With two big dogs, which we really only tried once, and not intentionally….well, Ike being much older and tougher, he wasn’t putting up with Cleo’s crap, and would bark back, which would get Roger going, so Cleo’s snarling was more fearful and vicious. But if I put a hand on her collar, she’d look up at me with big eyes and not try to bite me or anything, which was my main concern. So Cleo still hates other dogs.

But I think we’ve settled who owns the fence now.