Wrong Impressions

You can’t judge a book by its cover nor can you judge a dog by its breed (or breeds). A picture may be worth a 1000 words, but sometimes those words don’t tell the whole story.

These are the lessons I’ve learned today and it started this morning when we went for a long walk with Oshi and Perrito. Oshi thinks he’s a cat and when we are out walking he is always lagging behind (hoping to turn around and go back home where he can lie in the sun) or pulling ahead once we’ve started our route back home. This has always been my assumption — Oshi doesn’t know he’s a dog — but then I started to notice that whenever we pass another dog or see another dog (especially one behind a fence) Oshi gets all huffy puffy and stands tall like a dog, not like a cat.

Man, did he have me fooled all these years. Here I thought he wasn’t really a dog because he never really wanted to go for a walk and he never really seemed to enjoy himself. (Whereas Perrito always thought being a dog was the best thing to be in the world!)

As for Rosie and Tyson, I’ve always thought they were big, tough dogs. I’ve seen so many photos of their strong, regal faces I thought for sure they were tough cookies. I mean, even their breed name (Boxer) sounds gnarly! But Gretchen tells me that while they may have some issues with fear and anxiety, they really are incredibly sweet. Another lesson learned.

I had to think twice today — did I learn anything from Gemma? Oh yeah, she’s really matured. I thought she’d stay a puppy forever and while she still has her moments…

…that she can stand in a stay position for photos and not race off after the squirrels is truly a picture worth a thousand words!

Of course, I can be good, too!

Alice’s pictures, though, do kind of tell a truthful story.

I know, I know, I know…she always looks like she’s going to crawl out of her skin with nervousness and while she’s nervous when we first pick her up — especially when we bring big, goofy Saber along — she really does settle into the walk and calms down quite a bit.

But still, she sits as far away from Saber whenever we pose for pictures because she’s not quite certain about his big, goofy energy.

And big and goofy he is! After we walked Alice, Saber came over to the house and we played towel games. Yep, he snagged a towel and I took it from him and then shoved it back in his face whereupon we play tug for awhile and then he barks at me.

It’s a lot more fun than it sounds especially when Saber barks to get it back. Now these photos is one where the picture doesn’t tell the whole story…

…he looks pretty mean, doesn’t he? There’s not a mean bone in this guy’s body! He’s a enormous clown and I, for one, love to joke with him. Goofball!

So those are my lessons for today. Thankfully it’s Friday so I can give myself a bit of a break in the lessons learned department. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Until Monday,

Rubin