Big Boned

Not every dog I met attacked. At one suburban ranch house, the biggest German shepherd dog I had ever seen was sitting in the garage. It must have been 130 pounds at least. I approached cautiously and the dog never moved. It turned out that it was chained up, but decided I was trustworthy. The owners came out and explained that the dog was bred to be ‘big boned’. They also extolled their dog’s temperament and sense of judgment.

Once, there was a miniature poodle across the street that used to torment the larger dog. It would run over onto their property in front of the chained dog’s nose, just out of reach, yipping and yapping. But, one day the shepherd sat further in the garage so that its chain was slack. When the poodle came close enough to tease, the shepherd lunged up and grabbed it by the middle of its back and tossed it against the cinder block wall, killing it instantly. I was glad the big dog did not see me as a threat.