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Dogs have personalities – that’s why you humans like us so much. I’m sure the arguments of Nature vs. Nurture work for the canine crowd and how a dog forms SELF. However it happens, a dog ends up a unique being with her own quirks and traits. These quirks and traits seem to magnify with age.

When my family came to pick me out of the litter as a pup, they say that they picked me because I was gentle, but wouldn’t take any rough stuff from my sibs. A nice balance of nice. Once they took me home, they made it a priority to socialize me with other dogs, big & small, rough & sweet. An important step in any dog’s life, I enjoyed meeting and running off puppy energy with other dogs.

As I get older, my demeanor has changed and we don’t seek out doggie companionship as much as we used to. I’ve mentioned that we walk wooded trails where most of the dogs travel off-leash. Lots of dogs and humans walk these trails and they are a great place to experience nature and be free of streets, cars and non-dog people. Recently, when we meet a fellow four-legger on the trail, I become submissive. And almost any dog that smells submission (a.k.a. fear), will take advantage of it to varying degrees. I’ve been jumped on, growled and woofed at, called-out and sort-of violated. I’ve heard A-Dog (the mama of the house) worry about this situation to Shoes-on-the-Floor (the dad of the house) – that something might need to be done. So, I’ll lay it out for her and we can continue with no worries of mental problems.

I’m going to be nine years old in August. That makes me old. I don’t want to play with these young pups. Not to be all grumpy-pants, but I get enough exercise without being chased. That was fun years ago. Now, I like to walk, occasionally run, and mostly, smell things. Think of all the great smells you’re missing when you run around in circles. If there is an *incident* on the trail, most humans remedy the situation quickly and the only one who remembers the trauma is A-Dog. So, I don’t see this as MY problem.

I am gentle and sweet. Those are my traits. And I’m not a complete pushover. When a dog goes too far, I let him know. Ask the UPS guy if I’m submissive. I’m sure he’d have a completely different story… Woof!