Last week, we went to the dog park and happened upon a gathering of extremely giant dogs. By coincidence, there happened to be a Great Dane, a Mastiff, a Great Dane-Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, and Dogue de Bordeaux (think the movie Turner & Hooch), all in one small dog park. It definitely felt like Toki and I had accidentally crashed a meeting of the big boy’s club. For once, Toki was thoroughly intimidated, and almost shy. Instead of joining the fray, she ran away to play with a small Labrador on the fringes of the action. Afraid of being run over by the galloping, pony-sized dogs, I also retreated to a safe spot next to a tree.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the chaos of the thundering paws, a single elderly Chihuahua sniffed obliviously. The whole time he walked unconcernedly around the yard, ignoring the gigantic beasts that scattered everyone else in their path. He spent his time at the park peacefully and unscathed, as if a mini force-field prevented the other dogs from running into him.
It just goes to show that sometimes it’s not about size, it’s all about the attitude.