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November 21, 2016

The Mistake No Dog Makes Twice

Dogs, like people, are accident prone. And like us, their accidents tend to happen a number of times before they're corrected. There's the innocent accidents of puppy going through house-training,  and the not-so-innocent accidents of a dog who thought when you told them not to eat your shoes you were only referring to that one specific pair. But there is one accident no dog makes twice. That mistake? Messing with Penny. Penny is a one girl wrecking crew, so normally my job at the dog beach is to make sure she minds her manners. However, every once in a while a larger dog will target Penny for some roughhousing. My guess is that they think her relatively diminutive, lean frame makes her easy pickings.  Penny quickly disabuses them of that notion. I love to photograph the moment the big dog realizes they're in way over their head.
Montrose Dog Beach, Chicago, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Yellow Lab Dogs, like people, are accident prone. And like us, their accidents tend to happen a number of times before they’re corrected. There’s the innocent accidents of puppy going through house-training,  and the not-so-innocent accidents of a dog who thought when you told them not to eat your shoes you were only referring to that one specific pair. But there is one accident no dog makes twice. That mistake? Messing with Penny. Penny is a one girl wrecking crew, so normally my job at the dog beach is to make sure she minds her manners. However, every once in a while a larger dog will target Penny for some roughhousing. My guess is that they think her relatively diminutive, lean frame makes her easy pickings.  Penny quickly disabuses them of that notion. I love to photograph the moment the big dog realizes they’re in way over their head. Montrose Dog Beach, Chicago, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Yellow Lab

It begins in a crescendo of triumph. After pawing Penny’s head down, our would-be-victor jumps on her back

Montrose Dog Beach, Chicago, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Yellow Lab

“I AM THE MOST POWERFUL DOG IN THE WORLD!” he roars triumphantly

There, in the instant between two shutter clicks of my camera, the pup realizes Penny not going down to the sand. She’s rising up to meet him.

Montrose Dog Beach, Chicago, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Yellow Lab

“Wait, let’s talk about this!” he says.

Montrose Dog Beach, Chicago, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Yellow Lab

“Hey, hey, hey, why don’t you just let me go?” he continues.

Montrose Dog Beach, Chicago, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Yellow Lab

“Happy to.” Penny replies

Montrose Dog Beach, Chicago, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Yellow Lab

The face of a dog who will never make that mistake again!

We later learned this playful lab is named Dexter. He’s a big sweetheart and he’s a new addition to a daycare group we regularly see at the beach. He and Penny have a great time chasing each other whenever we see him, but these days he sticks to playing tag.

Dogs, like people, make mistakes. But it also turns out that dogs, like people, know that Penny is quite outside of her mind.

Comments for The Mistake No Dog Makes Twice

  1. Not out of her mind, just a girl who knows it’s not nice trying to pick on girls. Aw Penny…you’re my hero!

  2. Connie Taylor says:

    Penny definitely knows how to stand her ground! Its great seeing her have fun with someone who can match her wit, cunning, strength and tenacity. Eko trained her well

  3. Victoria Coleman says:

    too cute – you guys are making all kinds of new friends – that will keep you and Penny greatly amused! Good for you

  4. she is the queen bee of the beach and the queen of our hearts (but not that queen of hearts from alice lol)… imagine when penny would meet easy… then we probably all better wear helmets and look for shelter :O)

  5. Jesse says:

    that last photo of his face just made my day hahaha

  6. Kismet says:

    She’s not “Penny, the Pampered Princess”.

  7. Ha!!!! I think that is just one of many reasons I love Penny. I am quite “outside of MY mind” too 😉

  8. TheRidgebackLife says:

    Never, ever, judge a package by it’s size. Penny is proof positive of that. Oh, how I wish you lived on the west coast. Khoi and Penny would be such a pair. We could bet on which one would tire first.

  9. coastingnz says:

    oh my gosh that was hilarious! To have seen that and known what was going to unfold now that would have been super funny. Good to see the two of you having fun and I can see the smile on your face taking these pics and writing this blog. Baby steps xo

  10. Emmadog says:

    Living with two crazies, I totally understand that poor fellow’s shock! Size isn’t the key, it is the temperament. Nice she found another pal after leveling him off a bit! Priceless expressions. Mom says, without the camera watching dogs play would only be half the fun. She loves photographing dogs in motion and sometimes is totally surprised at what she gets on film, or should we say the SD card.

  11. T&S says:

    Go Penny go
    I would love sometimes to be without this… I call my female “the boss”… most of the dogs run off scared, and she just wants to play. Ok, and be the boss.
    RRs just love to play rough

  12. Eve says:

    Definitely PRICELESS!! Oh that was a great photo!!! Have a Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂

  13. What incredible action shots……from the beginning exploratory attempted domination, to the final realization that Penny truly CAN hold her ground and be a force to be reckoned with!!

    Pam

  14. Oh yeah, P. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. One by one you can take them all down.

    Love and licks,
    Cupcake

  15. Elyse says:

    Terrific pictures, Will. Have a happy Holiday.

  16. Jo Rhodes says:

    I love this little boy’s face! “Umm, I’ll call you later. My dad’s calling me.” Thanks for the giggle. My boys are killing each other at the moment, so we’ll see you around the turkey table.
    Love and roars, Jo, Sam and Dean

  17. René L. Hester says:

    Too funny! My Chi-Chi girl is pretty much the same – don’t mess with her cuz she’ll be all over it! She’s def not a push over. She’ll play just as rough & I’d love to have her & Penny rough-house. We know they’re no pushover! Thanks’ for sharing. I know you can imagine Eko being there, just in case….just in case! But, Penny CAN take care of herself. And, Eko’s smiling from above – thinking, that’s our girl!

  18. The look on Dexter’s face in the 3rd photo is priceless. Thanks for a great laugh this morning. Gotta love our Penny!

  19. Karen in Oregon says:

    Your Penny is like my little Olive. She is truly a bad a$$! At 78 pounds, she can take on ANY dog, and she does. We think she is such a tough little nut because when we got her at 8 weeks, we pretty much turned her loose with Kimba, our other ridgie, who was only one at the time. Kimba wrestled with her, tossed her smashed her, pummelled her, and generally had her way with her. To survive, Olive had to develop strong skills. She is fierce. And goofy. ; )

  20. That a girl penny you tell those boys

  21. Dog blogger says:

    Great story mine rough plays at times

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