an unlikely trio

These three dogs lived about a mile from my house. Wishbone, on the left, is the Rottweiler, Zazou is the springer spaniel and I never did know the little guy's name. Ron, my running buddy is trying to get them to sit so he can give them a treat. The little dog wasn't often around because he could slip through the fence and often did, wandering the neighborhood. I was always grateful when I didn't see him squashed in the road. He didn't seem to be afraid of anything - I guess living with these two big guys, taught him a thing or two about not being afraid.

Wishbone and Zazou weren't very friendly at first. I guess according to their human, they had been tied up a lot at first. We talked to the lady who owned them a few times when we stopped to greet the dogs. I don't think she was very happy from what she told us - sometimes too much for not knowing us at all.

It took us a while to get these dogs not to not snarl at us. After they learned we had treats, they got nice for a while. Zazou would live up to his breeds name and spring across the top of the bushes when he saw us coming. Wishbone would just saunter up and wait - he sure was a pretty dog but I guess he and Zazou got into some pretty good fights, if the long gash we saw once on Zazou's shoulder was any indication. Either of them could have eaten the little dog if they could have caught him. Either of them could have done damage to us if they were not behind that fence. But I don't think they would have. Jack never really trusted them and kept his distance - not even wanting to sniff through the fence. Dogs have a sense of who is their friend and who they are better off avoiding.

After a while, they went back to snarling at us and Jack. The yard around this house became pretty uncared for and it seemed that the dog's attitudes reflected some sort of unrest at the house. One day they were just gone along with their human. And, eventually the house was gone and replaced with three stucco monsters.

Dogs are like people in some ways. If you are nice you can earn their trust. But they are affected by the circumstances around them and have even less control over them than we do. But cranky people and cranky dogs can add something to a person's life if you take the time to get to know them.