Meet Zoe. She's a miniature dashchund from Brooklyn, who likes to visit us each summer with her family. She was still a little (and I mean little) puppy the very first summer we met her, but she's always thought of herself as a Big Dog. She lives with two rescued greyhounds who let Zoe boss them around most of the time.
Puppy, being the bossy type herself, didn't know what to make of little Zoe. Puppy has been playing rough with her own Big Dog this summer, and I admit to being a little nervous in anticipation of this annual summer visit.
But it all worked out well. There was an awful lot of sniffing going on all week long. It was as if Puppy had trouble believing that all that Big Dog Attitude was stuffed inside such a little package.
We had joked that Zoe was the size of Puppy's head, but you can see in the photos that was an exaggeration. She's twice as big as Puppy's head.
Zoe seemed to have no trouble telling Puppy what to do and how to do it. And when Puppy wasn't listening, there were always coffee tables to hide under. Or on top of. Puppy actually played more with the greyhounds. Sabra and Kali were rescued from the race track, and are spending their retirement years perfectly spoiled and content with our friends from Brooklyn. And Zoe.
Down by the shoreline, Puppy was able to peer pressure the greyhounds into swimming with her in the ocean. Our three dogs and the two greyhounds had a blast in the waves. Even though the greyhounds seemed surprised by the salt water at first, they quickly caught on. The older dog, Sabra, even learned to imitate our Old Dog's favorite trick of just lying down in the surf.
Zoe knew better than to jump in when the waves were bigger than she was. She kept an eye on the rest of them from the edge of where the ocean caressed the sand. Zoe knows she can go in the ocean if she wants to - and she has been in many times over the years. But Puppy couldn't peer pressure her into romping with the Big(ger) Dogs.
In the end, all the visiting dogs had a fine time playing on the beach. The greyhounds got to sprint down the open stretches of sand, but turned and came back with Puppy and our Big Dog. Zoe was content to call the race from the sidelines, and boss Puppy around the back yard.
I wonder what Zoe will think next year, when Puppy is full grown.
Puppy officially celebrated her 7-month milestone this past weekend. She still seems to be growing at a slow but steady rate, although some days her hind quarters stand taller than her head. My husband still insists that she'll never be a huge Saint Bernard, like her father was. Lord Justice was a 190-pound award winning canine.
Puppy is a Big Dog in attitude, if still a Puppy at heart. She's successfully mastered many basic commands, but still thinks of most of them as optional. More reinforcement is needed, especially before she gets much bigger and realizes we can't make her do anything.
