our walk today was along the river, to "goose green" and back on the other side, over the big grassy field where dogs abound and bound. i have avoided it in the past because i don't know how loose dogs, or indeed how a bound sam, will behave.
today, i learnt a few things about that. first, i must accept that sam has a split personality. he really wants to bound and play with those other dogs. however, he also wants to cower and wish them away.
on our trip across the stray, we first came across a loose and easy-going black and tan being, fairly large but also seemingly calm and gently interested. how did sam react? he tried to leap straight at the dog, which was luckily a couple of metres away. when the leash restrained him, he instead jumped into the air, like the amazing jumping dog he is. he made quite an amusing picture in all his jumping bulk. however, the other dog was not amused by the spectacle, and walked off, leaving sam to let out one of his rare barks.
next, i kept sam close outside the playground while our little girl did her thing in there. after a while, a cobble of three dogs, two of them loose, came running up. this time, sam did not want to play. he laid down; when two of them came up to snif, he sat crouching, even nipping slightly to get them off. the friendly couple was not very fazed. the third dog, a fat black labrador, was gentler, and sam let it -- her, perhaps? -- snif.
he really has to meet dogs. hopefully, the encounter with the last dog outweighs the less fortunate ones... or maybe he learned something from those as well.
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