Meet Henry, prime-time Dog Park visitor,
part-time Gladiator.
Tagging along, his trusty sidekick, Betty.
When Betty wasn’t anxiously chewing bark
in her skull and crossbones harness
she orbited her owner.
Whereas when the big dogs came around,
Henry ran right into the mix.
It started with Sammy on the hill.
Henry and Tasha joined Sammy.
Sammy took a shine to lower-chassis Henry.
Just when you thought, oh no,
Henry’s down and demolished
. . . a second later, with Sammy distracted . . .
Henry reared up his whole 16 inches
channeling his inner Spartacus,
…and let Sammy have it.
Combat never felt so right.
Things got so fun,
Tasha stopped by for another look,
and even Betty risked wandering in…
…before hurriedly exiting, stage right.
Discovering she was not needed,
Tasha left for more welcoming woodpiles.
For Sammy and Henry had seriously bonded…
Everyone knows gladiators fight till the death,
or, until, you know, exhaustion.
Dr. Tongue made a short entrez-vous.
Greeting Tash with a healthy slobberin’.
Many others came to ogle the action.
Another, like Mangus, turned out to be petrified
of German Shepherds, according to his owner.
Having had a bad run-in
during at least one fur-raising experience.
Seems Tasha restored Mangus’ faith in Sheps,
although it didn’t stop Mangus’ teeth from chattering,
compelling Mangus’ owner to note . . .
“That is the friendliest Shepherd I’ve ever seen.”
Friendly, sure, but often prone
to reflexively blocking camera shots.
Tasha’s stint at Doggy Day-Care
has earned her some diplomatic status.
According to a day-care provider,
she hung out with an 8-month old pup
who was terrified to join the pack on his first day.
After licking his face and lying in a corner with him,
Tasha was deemed a “wonderful ambassador.”
Guardian, counselor, art-aficionado?
* * *
The dog park reminds you how satisfying
well-earned exhaustion is at the end of a day.
Dreaming of future episodes of
Dog the Ambassador
Hillary: “T-Bone, it’s me. Bo is back to biting visitors again.
Specifically, he seems to have it in for Tea Party obstructionists.”
Tasha: “I’m not sure I’m following? What’s the problem?”
Hillary: “Look, it might be satisfying, but it’s just not good P.R.
Can you fly up and do some dog whispering into that furball’s head?”
Tasha: ”Just say where and when, Madam Secretary.
Hillary: “Awesome, thanks – you’re the cat’s meow!”
Tasha: “Don’t mention it! Seriously, don’t mention that expression again…”
Bo’s ginormous cranium is assisted
in identifying the more obstructive Tea Partiers
