It's All About Attitude: Travis to the Rescue

For anyone who has ever owned a Miniature Schnauzer, the saying "it's all about attitude" should be a familiar one.

There is no dog in the world like a Miniature Schnauzer (and I say this with nothing but admiration). The first Schnauzer I ever knew as a child, named Heidi, was only 15 pounds, but I was terrified of her.  Maybe it was the beard, or maybe it was the eyebrows, but she had me sufficiently cowed that I would never have tried to pet her in a million years.  This was the reason that many years later, when my sister and I were sharing a house, we decided to get a Miniature Schnauzer (to help me get over my fear of them).

His name was Travis, and he is legend.

Travis, aka Mr. T (photo by PS)

I had never known such ferocity could exist in such a small package.  When Travis was a puppy, he gave new meaning to the phrase "sharp toothed" (especially when it came to my poor sister).  He made Pasja look gentle when it came to the teething stage.  Travis was the king of the household, ruling with absolute power over my toy poodle Charla, our Shih-Tzu Nikki, and each and all of our cats.  At times, he was ferocious enough that I became angry at him (especially when he assaulted Nikki) but he made up for all of these times by his actions one wintery night.

A neighbor had told us that two German Shepherd mixes were attacking small dogs in the area, one of which was her rat terrier.  It had to be hospitalized for an extensive period of time because it had been mauled so badly.  Since I never walked Charla and Nikki (they were too small!) and they were in a fenced yard, I didn't worry about it too much...until late one night when I let them out before bed.

At the time, the two of them were alone in the west half of the yard, while Travis was sniffing for something on the east side.  Suddenly the two delinquent dogs appeared and charged my fence, obviously aiming to jump over it and attack my two little ones.  I began shouting and running toward them, but I never had a chance to do anything to protect them, because Travis got there first.

He shot across the yard like he had been fired out of a cannon, every hair on his body standing on end.  As the two dogs gaped at him, he began bouncing up and down like a giant windup toy, growling, barking and practically screaming in his rage that they would threaten his friends.  For a moment, the two of them snarled at him angrily.

Then they slowly turned and slunk away.

Moments later, I snatched up my two tiny dogs and told Travis to come inside, still afraid the two of them would return...but Travis simply ignored me.  He knew he had scared them off for good.  I never saw either one of them again.

As for Travis, he continued to show the same unflagging courage for the rest of the 10 years that my sister had him.  Schnauzers mean business...and every animal he met was smart enough to recognize it.

It's All About Attitude: Pasja and the Boxer

I've heard it said many times that dogs don't really pay attention to the size of other dogs.  My own personal experience is that they really do notice when a dog is very large (like Prince) but not necessarily as much when a dog is small, especially if the small dog has an attitude.

A perfect example of this would be Pasja.

Pasja (left) and his friend Hector

Pasja liked almost all other dogs (and they all liked him) but if any dog tried to be too assertive with him, Pasja immediately evinced a "big dog" attitude.  This was especially apparent one day when I was walking him through the woods by our home, when I was a teenager.

The people who lived by the woods (who possibly owned part of them) had two dogs, a Boxer and a German Shepherd.  The German Shepherd was pretty laid back, but the Boxer would aggressively pursue anyone he saw passing through the woods when his owners were not present.  On the day I happened to be walking Pasja through the woods, this exact set of circumstances occurred.

Being young and foolish, as soon as he began to chase us, I ran.  Pasja seemed reluctant to follow me, but did because he was on the leash (even though he fretted the entire time).  Unfortunately, this only aggravated the Boxer even more, and I could hear him gaining on us, with low growls and excited panting noises, until he was almost immediately behind us.  At this point, unsure of what to do but out of breath, I stopped...and he came charging toward us.

That was when Pasja took over.

Pasja was still fairly young at the time, and I had never yet seen him get really angry with anyone or anything.  He began to bark and then to growl so menacingly that the Boxer actually stopped and stared at him with what I can only describe as astonishment.  The angrier Pasja became, the more uncertain the Boxer grew, until he eventually began to back away and finally turned for home, wearing an almost sheepish expression, even as he continued to growl under his breath.  Pasja continued to bark and snarl at him until he was a good ways off, at which point we resumed our walk in peace and quiet.

I never worried again when I was walking Pasja about any kind of threat, whether it was four-legged or two-legged.  In spite of his being less than 50 pounds, Pasja was absolutely certain that he could deal with anything or anyone...and his certainty made it true.  He protected me in many instances throughout the time I had him, provoking a great many reactions, but always inspiring a healthy respect.

Bedtime Snacks

Many, many years ago, when my toy poodle was just a wee little thing, the groomer who I normally took her to told me that little dogs require more than one meal a day...preferably one in the morning, and one sometime later during the day, to keep their blood sugars from dropping.  Somehow, this evolved into an excuse for me to feed my dogs 2 meals a day, which gradually got further and further apart.  Eventually I made the exciting discovery that dogs, like people, sleep better on a full stomach, and thus the tradition of bedtime snacks was born.

It is a tradition that I have since come to regret.

My initial concoctions were of the simple variety...perhaps a bone or some other kind of dog snack. They then graduated to more elaborate plates of snacks, and then to full-fledged meals.  Why? Because my dogs insisted upon it.

Bedtime for Prince (photo by SCB)

I have to give Prince credit for at least being polite about it.  When I approach him at night, he initially stares at me in an expectant manner, at least giving me the chance to produce the snack without his demanding it.  If this approach fails to work, he will begin to shadow me, and finally sniff at my pockets in an expectant manner, staring at me intensely the entire time.  Failing to produce a snack will result in his failing to do whatever I want him to do, until the snack is produced.  Since I would rather cajole than command, whenever possible, his approach usually works.

Isabel is not nearly as polite about it.

Bedtime for Isabel (photo by SCB)

She, too, will stare at me as bedtime approaches, but in a far more expectant manner, as if she cannot imagine that I would not grant her wishes.  If the snack does not meet her approval, she will either snort loudly or refuse to bestow upon me her treasured good night kiss.  She also has another, more ominous method of getting exactly what she wants (sometimes used even after receiving a satisfactory snack).  This technique can only be described as hounding.

For the rest of the night, whenever I get up, for whatever reason, she will get up, too.  After I have finished whatever errand prompted me to arise, I will return to find her sitting in the middle of the dining room floor, refusing to go back to bed unless another suitable snack is provided for her.  She will do this as many times as she desires, and yes, I admit, I always give in.

Unfortunately, I have created a monster.  Now, after receiving her first or second snack, she actually has to be locked into the bedroom at night to prevent her from insisting upon a never ending supply of bedtime snacks.

Bedtime for Scrappy (photo by SCB)

Oddly enough, the real beneficiary of both Prince and Isabel's behavior is Scrappy.  He never asks for anything, and for some odd reason, always seems to end up with the most of everything.  Persistence does pay, but patience really is the best technique of them all.