The other day Chico and I made a whirlwind trip to my cousin Eva’s to meet my new baby cousin Alexa who was in town with family from California. It really was quick, only eighteen hours there, but so rewarding. First of all, babies are magic, they just are. Second of all, in the short time we were there, because Eva is the opposite of me, a total extrovert with a thousand friends and social interactions, Chico had not one, not two, but three chances to interact with other dogs.

Moments after I arrived, we left again to go to dinner at the home of some family friends. There Chico had a chance to interact successfully with two West Highland Terriers and a little maybe terrier/poodle mix named Peso who had been rescued from the street in Mexico, covered with grease and stick-thin. Well, OK, when Chico and Peso were on the screen porch at the end of the evening there was a scuffle. But other than that it was great.

The next morning some neighbors came by for a walk, and there were a couple dogs along too. A Pointer-ish mixed breed, taller than Chico and about twice as heavy, and a good sized Portuguese Water Dog. Everyone was off leash, the other dogs were polite and largely uninterested in Chico, and he was a perfect gentleman.

And THEN, when we got back from the walk and were puttering around the gardens, Dogger showed up. Dogger belongs to one of the workers at Eva’s Garden, and he runs around the place on his own terms.

He’s the right size for Chico, with a square head and a lovely doggie smile.

And he was determined to get Chico to be friends.

He was a social genius, giving Chico plenty of space at first.

Before coming a little closer.

Dogger politely followed Chico around.

After a bit of this, I was ready to go back to the house with the produce I had picked, so we did, with Dogger’s person holding on to him lest he follow.

But in a few minutes, he was at the door of the house, looking for Chico.

So we went back outside for a few minutes. In these pictures, you can see Chico lose his tolerance for Dogger’s friendly attentions. By the end, he’s just starting to curl his lip.

See the way Chico’s upper lip is tightening, making the start of some wrinkles on his nose? He’s a fraction of a second from snarling at Dogger to say “Hey Bud, that’s enough!”

About then Dogger’s person showed to find him, and take him away. She remarked that he was totally uninterested in the two Boxers that are living on the property this summer, but obsessed with Chico.

And he was, because in a few minutes, he was back again, asking if Chico could come out and play:

And here’s a sort of awesome thing about Dogger – he’s not neutered. He’s got all the testosterone, or doggie equivalent, he could have. But we won’t get into the spay/neuter discussion today.