Butch is always game for a challenge no matter how big, small, fast, or slow his potential opponent may be. He takes every opportunity to stare down every single car, biker, person, dog, or truck that passes by and if he thinks he has an opportunity to intimidate he will take it. I admit all of this freely, he has a "Napoleon Complex!" You know, the little guy with the big personality trying to intimidate. Note the front leaning stance in this picture while he is staring something down in our driveway. This is his normal stance which, as I have learned, does reflect his "dominating" personality. If you take a minute to notice how your dog is standing when they do not know you are looking at them, you can learn volumes about their personality. Standing straight is neutral, leaning forward can be aggressive, and backward leaning can mean timid or frightened. Other dogs notice this stance and can gauge a response before even approaching. I am happy to say that Butch is trained very well and will not, under any circumstances run out of our yard even for another dog passing by although he will voice his opinion. The invisible fence did help with this but he is smart enough not to even chance it without his collar. Leading up to my point...when most people that know him, call him on his challenge and walk into the yard, he will normally try to lure them in by faking a cowering stance until they get into his reach and ....then....HE EXPLODES, JUMPING UP AND DOWN AND RUNNING AROUND THEIR LEGS! He will usually settle down long enough for a nice pat on the head and a little adoration but then when they kneel down to his level he can, and has, knocked people right on their butts and he goes right for licking their ears REALLY FAST! His strength is deceptive and people do not realize how strong he is because he is on the small side for a dog. He has his methods for getting people to his level, it works, and he is not afraid to use it!

A recent incident in my driveway started me thinking. As I was talking to a friend, Butch was wandering around the yard coming over to the driveway to see another person passing by. She asked to pet my dog. I said "OK but you have to come into the driveway, he will not come to you." She came into the driveway with open hand forward and immediately kneeled down. Before I could say "don't do that" Butch jumped but she rose before he could knock her down. She chuckled and made a funny comment. This should have been my first clue to stay close to Butch while she was petting him but I stayed where I was, still talking. She began to pet him again, this time leaning over the top of him. This is also a "No-No" dogs view this as a dominance tactic and might react. Even the little ones...especially Butch! As I kept an eye on him she straightened up pretty fast when Butch jumped up higher than her head. I thought, OK that's enough. I turned to say goodbye to my friend and I heard Butch let out a bark that I have never heard from him before. I was afraid he bit her and I asked "what happened?"  She said he was being "inappropriate." I said "Inappropriate? A dog? You're kidding right?"  Butch was doing what a dog does he sniffs. Dogs sniff crotches, butts, arms, legs, anything they can, to get to know another dog and yes PEOPLE TOO! I'm not sure what she did to get Butch away from her, but what ever it was he did not like it and I was afraid that if he did not already he would bite her, so I picked him up. As you can tell from his stance above he is not likely to "stand down" from a pinch, a slap, or a push that he might think is a challenge especially on his own "turf." As Butch can support more than his own weight with his jaws, I have no doubt he can easily take a finger right off if provoked and can latch on quickly. I can place my entire fist in his mouth! A bigger dog could maybe take a whole hand.

Main Point: If you own a dog, make sure you pay closer attention to people petting them than I did in this example. If you like dogs and don't own one, surf the web and learn a little about dog behavior BEFORE you pet someone's dog. There is a right way and wrong way to do it and what you think is "inappropriate" is perfectly natural to a dog. So reacting to this in "human" terms is not understood by the dog and can be read as aggression on your part. The dog will react to defend itself and also not trust you again. Think about it...If in my house I never let people eat with a fork but only use spoons and you come over for dinner and start eating with a fork and I slap you on the back of the head and scream, what would you do? Hit me back, not trust me to walk behind you, think I was nuts for doing that? You were doing something perfectly normal but I reacted negatively. Dogs do certain things that are normal for them...learn what they are or leave them alone for your sake and theirs!