Big Bad Nothing

Landon is not the bravest dog in the world. He's the type that needs to see and be around people and dogs a few times before he's going to "warm up" completely. There are a few exceptions to this but generally the more frequent he sees you the more he's going to feel comfortable.

When we take our walks there's certain houses we pass where he has a level of "comfort" with the dogs in the backyard. This is especially true if he sees the dogs out and about then comes across the yard they are in, he gets comfortable real quick. Mind you his comfort level is greatly helped by a fence between him and the other dogs. So yesterday I'm walking him, we come along the side yard of a home we pass daily. He's seen these dogs numerous times being walked and he hears them all the time in their backyard. The level of comfort is there. They like to chat back and forth, I mean bark, back and forth. It's all in a friendly manner. Anyway, we're walking along and the dogs in the neighbors yard and Landon through the fence are "chatting" away when all of a sudden a mini dachshund comes around the nearby corner. The dachshund was on a leash but it was one of those retractable leashes so the dog had a ton of freedom. The dog was coming to get involved in the discussion that was going on between Landon and the 2 other dogs inside their fence. All of a sudden Landon sees out of the corner of his eye this mini dachshund...wait let me repeat, this mini dachshund...coming in his direction, as soon as he spots the dachshund he is instantly spooked and begins heading in the opposite direction at full speed. Well it would have been full speed if he hadn't had his mommie holding him back. I had to react quick in order to calm him down because he was heading in the direction of Oklahoma. It was so funny to me afterwards of course. In the moment it wasn't all that funny. He got spooked by a mini dachshund. Lol! I would have understood him being spooked if it had been a dog bigger than him but a mini dachshund? Yes, it's a different body type than him but not an intimidating figure.

He's an interesting little dude. He was acting all big and bad and chummy with his pals on the other side of the fence but when a mini dachshund comes up to join in he splits. What's at the end of my leash that I walk? A dog that thinks he's a big bad dude. But in reality he's a big bad nothing! LOL!