Let me start this post with a story of what happened on our walk just now. Stanley was touring the neighborhood and I was following along. He walked to the side of our neighborhood that faces the lake....full of trees, grass, and wide-open spaces. The lakeside also gives you access to the back yards of houses. In fact, you can walk right up to their see through fence and see what's going on in their back yard. Stanley likes to sniff along the fence line. For some reason he finds interesting scents there.
Well, he was in a spot that was close to two back yards. One house has two Scotties that bark, bark, bark, bark, bark when Stanley or anyone approaches. The Scotties are more bark than bite. However, the other house has a large dog (the breed escapes me right now) that is very persnickety about whom she likes around her (and her house). Whitney is her name, and Whitney is the opposite of the Scotties. Whitney’s bite is worse than her bark!
Whitney rushed to the fence in bullet speed....she came out of nowhere. I spoke sweetly to her, saying hello and asking her about her day (yes, we treat dogs like humans in my neighborhood!...Ha). Whitney's guard came down and she just looked at me and stared. She definitely was disarmed at this point. Finally, Whitney walked back to the porch and sat down. Stanley continued to sniff, acting as if he was the only dog around. He was curious and didn't seem bothered by the Scotties barking or Whitney's charging.
Well, Stanley moved to the side yard from the back yard and he continued to sniff along the fence line. All of a sudden Whitney charged the fence again and with such speed and force that I was caught by surprise. Whitney and I were only 4 feet apart but Stanley was right at the fence and within inches of Whitney’s face. Whitney dropped her nose to the fence line where Stanley was and she bore her teeth and growled. "Hey, buddy!...back off from my yard!" LOL
Stanley just stood there, looking to the side…he didn’t even flinch. Stanley does that. He will not look you straight on. Instead, he looks to the side and watches you in his peripheral vision. It's kind of like a snub right in front of your face. Ha!
Whitney was not amused and was quite bothered that Stanley was not moving away. I again spoke sweetly to Whitney and began to move away as Stanley followed. As we walked away, Stanley began to pick up speed. He wasn't running but he was moving with a steady pace.
Finally, we got to the winding street and he turned at the first corner into the cul de sac where (you guessed it) Whitney lives. He walked down to Whitney's house and then proceeded to pee all over the bushes in the front! Not just one bush...no. Stanley peed at every bunch of bushes. As I watched I tilted my head because it seemed to me that Stanley knew what he was doing.
Could it be that Stanley was having his "take this, Whitney!" moment? Who knows the mind of Stanley!
Until next time,
Love,
Car
