Tuesday, March 6, 2012

close encounters of the third kind (or the fourth, maybe).

When Claire was still in her puppy stage, she had a hard time distinguishing between small dogs and squirrels, cats, chipmunks, etc. They were all the same to her: squeaky and quick. In the past two and a half years, however, she somehow learned the difference, which makes my life much easier.

But tonight at the dog park, she came into contact with a dog who made her a bit confused - and it was hilarious to watch her try and sort out what she was looking at. First, take a look at this little dog:


This is a dog called the Chinese Crested.
In my opinion, the Chinese Crested looks a bit like a My Little Pony.

Does anyone else see the resemblance?!

Tonight we were with some friends at the dog park, and Claire met a Chinese Crested for the first time. Naturally, she was interested. Her ears perked up and she looked at him for a few seconds, and then she got a little closer and sniffed him. He jumped back and barked at her, and she started to bark back. Then he growled, which prompted her to go into a puppy bow to try and engage him in play. So far, Claire was actually doing really well around this little guy. But it was at this point when the owner of the Chinese Crested swooped in, noting that her dog "isn't comfortable around big dogs", and then she did the ultimate no-no: she picked him up.

She picked up her little hairless dog who was barking at an extremely high pitch. Now, for those of you who don't have dogs, let me explain something to you: whenever owners pick up their little dog to try and "rescue" it from others, it's the equivalent of holding up a squeaky toy. If you hold up a squeaky toy to any dog, they're going to try and get it away from you. Because they think it's prey.

That being said, when the owner of the Chinese Crested picked him up in all of his barking glory, Claire saw that as a challenge. And she started jumping up to this lady at eye-level to try and get to her My-Little-Pony dog. After multiple attempts to try and grab a very bouncy Claire, I was able to wrangle her in, at which point I apologized profusely. I actually think I said, "I'm so sorry, I don't think she knows that your dog is a dog."

...Oops. My bet is that she won't come back to the dog park. Though it's still up in the air as to whether she won't return because of Claire or because I (quite unintentionally) offended her...
  
  

14 comments:

  1. Ahhh! I wish Kingsley could have been there...even if to just help her 'my little pony' my MY LITTLE PONY! Xo

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    1. Ames, we wish Kings could've been there too!!

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  2. Hah, how funny!

    I never thought about it much, but they DO look like My Little Ponies!

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    1. Don't they?! I'd never seen a Chinese Crested in real life before, so I was shocked at the similarities haha!

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  3. Oh my gosh...It is a my little pony!!!! I never would have thought of that, but it is amazingly similar.

    We've nominated you for a blog award, btw. See it here: http://lifewitharie.com/2012/03/05/thanks-everyone-awards-from-our-favorite-blogging-fellows/

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    1. AHHH. YOU ARE AWESOME <3 Can I give it back to you, or is that not allowed?! ;)

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  4. Hilarious! Some dog breeds definitely have a different look to them. Who brings such a small dog to a dog park not expecting other dogs (of all sizes) to play with him?

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  5. omg, you just called the chinese crested a my little pony! i am dying laughing over here! i can't even read the rest of the post at the moment

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  6. OMG, "I'm so sorry, I don't think she knows that your dog is a dog."

    LMAO!!!

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  7. oh my god, that was great. i am making my husband read this!

    the other problem with people picking up their small dogs as a response to actions of the small dog or approaching people/dogs, is that the dog learns to be afraid of the wrong things but learns nothing at all useful. people should try training their small dogs instead.

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    1. Lauren, I cracked up reading your comments - like, "laugh-out-loud" laughing!!

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  8. thank you...I needed a good laugh at 1am! those dogs really creep me out!

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    1. I'm guessing that you were working when that comment was posted haha!

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