A Very Bad Dog - Part 2

Shortly after Prince began to exhibit his new, alarming tendency to jump onto men's backs, my boyfriend invited an old friend of his over to see what advice he might have to offer.  Greg was a large, burly man with a loud, commanding voice who claimed to know a great deal about German Shepherds.  He walked into the yard where Prince was in a confident manner.

"What you have to keep in mind," he said, as soon as Prince came ambling toward him, "is that German Shepherds recognize assertiveness in people.  If they know you're not the sort of person to put up with being jumped on, they won't jump on you."

"Okay," I said, thinking that thus far, Prince didn't seem to be reacting any differently toward Greg than he had toward any of the men he had jumped on.  But Greg seemed so sure of himself, I held my tongue.

"Come here, Prince," Greg said, in a loud voice, and held out his hand to him.

Prince happily complied, ambling up to him, sniffing at his hands and then frisking away.

"See," Greg said, somewhat proudly.

"He doesn't jump on you until you turn your back," I started to say, but Greg turned away from me to say something to my boyfriend, and didn't hear me.  The instant he did, Prince rushed forward and jumped up on his back, causing him to stumble forward.

Prince in a more pensive mood

"No!!" Greg bellowed, his face slightly red as he recovered his balance and whirled around.

I started to tell him I really didn't want him to yell at my dog but refrained from doing so in light of how provoking Prince had actually been.  Besides, Prince really didn't seem to care.  After giving Greg a thoughtful look, he went to lie several feet away, with an old bone, and began to chew on it in an innocent manner.

"That will probably be the last time that happens," Greg told me confidently.

I glanced at Prince, who was wearing an almost chastened expression.  Perhaps, I thought, Greg was right...but a certain gleam in Prince's eye made me wonder.  He didn't look repentant.

He looked as if he were pretending to be repentant.

For the next several minutes, Greg kept a watchful eye on Prince.  Then, as Prince continued to ignore him, he turned back to my boyfriend, eventually becoming so engrossed in the conversation that he turned his back toward Prince again.

In the next second, Prince dropped his bone, hurtled toward Greg, jumped onto his back so hard that Greg almost went to his knees...and nipped the back of Greg's head.

"Prince, no!" I shouted, and dove toward him.  Obviously delighted with himself, he stood still long enough for me to grab him by the collar and drag him inside away from Greg, whose face was now almost purple with rage.

Suddenly Prince's jumping on men's backs seemed almost comical compared with this new, far worse behavior, which I had no idea what to do about.

Unfortunately, things were going to get worse before they got better.