Bernie, a Great Dane we met at the beach, met all the above criteria
One of the tough parts about having a large dog is that some people are wary of letting their dog play with yours. Eko is hilariously gentle with smaller dogs, but I completely understand why his size might make a person nervous. If I see that’s the case, I’m happy to run the pups to a different part of the beach.
Bernie, a gregarious pup a few months older than Penny, had the same trouble the other day. He’d good naturedly bounce and crash around smaller dogs (ie: every dog at the beach) and his owner kept shooing Bernie along.
Bernie bounded over to Penny and started pushing her around a bit. Bernie’s owner graciously offered to move Bernie down the beach but I just laughed and told him to enjoy the show.
Bernie was quite confused why Penny wasn’t the least bit intimidated when he threw his weight around
Bernie was even more confused when Penny started chasing him!
“You messed with the wrong chick, buddy!”
Penny kept chasing Bernie off but the big lug just kept on bugging her
So she called in the cavalryÂ
Eko and Bernie bounced and crashed while Penny looked on
“Bernie, trust me, you’re getting off easy by wrestling me instead of Penny”
After getting run ragged by Eko and Penny, Bernie, in true big dog fashion, looked so pleased with himself as he flopped in the sand. Bernie’s owner said he appreciated me letting Eko and Penny run with Bernie. I told him we were more than happy to pass along the lesson Penny learned just a few weeks back.
It’s the circle of life!
My dog Lasya, a 50 lb. Chow/GSD mix, once met an Irish Wolfhound “puppy” at the creek who was about three times her size. He was as sweet and gentle as could be and I felt sorry for him because Lasya had no idea what to do.
Eko and Penny are excellent tutors – Bernie could be a great play pal for them in the future.
People can be real weird about who they let their dogs play with. Katie is big but being white and fluffy fools humans into thinking she is sweet and gentle. She is pretty nice, but when she is made, she is a guard dog and can be dangerous…not anymore, just a mean old lady. Mom always was amused at how clueless people were with her, yet the big black lab/newf mix sent everyone running and she was the one who wouldn’t hurt a flea!
wow ! yay for Penny! the dog with the heart of a lion :o) Easy likes all dogs (except Vizslas) butt he was scared to death as he met two deerhounds …he jumped behind me and pushed me with his head…”please eat her first, while I run away ” :o)
I love big lugs too! I also love seeing your dogs playing since Jake does not get to play, it’s nice to see a reminder of all the frolicking!
When Kyla was six months old, she walked up to a Rottweiler and said “hello”. The Rottie’s peep was amazed. Usually smaller dogs either ran away or started yipping.
Size doesn’t matter to my Rusty the Welsh Terrier. Before they moved to Massachusetts, Rusty’s best friend was a Weimeraner. I love that Penny is fearless .. and has backup cavalry when she isn’t.
Daisy *thinks* she’s a big dog. She’s not intimidated by their size at all – she just flies at them and they’re not quite sure what to make of her. She and Penny would probably have a great time together…although I’m sure Penny would far outlast our nap-loving cuddlebug.
Love it!
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Tag-team wrestling, love it! Those RR’s are so darn clever. 😉 If it weren’t for his size, you’d almost feel badly for Bernie.
dogs at play – pure awesomeness! Nico forgets how big he is and wants to play with everything and thinks everyone will be his friend. Like Eko though is very gentle. Ziggy says hi but then has “other” things he has to go and do.
It’s so nice to see dogs given the opportunity to learn to play with other dogs without needing interference from their people. Love the pictures!
what a fun day with a new friend.
I do worry about size difference sometimes, but should know better. Our Sally, a very petite Lab at #60lbs had a best friend who was double her size and weight – a Borzoi named Rudy. He was as gentle as could be with her.