The girls and I were trudging home from school after a big snowfall. We walked past a man shovelling his driveway. His dog, an enormous Newfoundland dog (wiki) was bounding around in the snow. If a hairy old dog could look like a kid at Christmas, he looked like a kid at Christmas. Oh, the joy in his doggy face! He was so pleased to be outdoors with a snoot full of snow. He was so excited he didn’t know what to do with himself.
Have you ever known a Newfoundland? This dog is massive. His head is the size of a watermelon. His feet are not unlike the paws of a small bear. What’s more, he and Sarah are practically at eye level. As big and scary as he seemed, this giant is gentle and very loving. He loves kids.
His owner and I chatted and the girls patted him. And then the dog proceeded to follow us home. We went quite a ways before the owner decided he needed to take action.
“GANDER!” I heard him call. “GANDERRR!”
Gander completely ignored him. He obviously preferred the company of two small humans who scratched his back and fawned over him.
He wasn’t rushing to go anywhere.
“Hey Gander,” I said. “Go home boy! Go home!”
He gave me a blank stare. He didn’t move a muscle.
“Go home would ya?”
Nothing.
Suddenly I heard a weird gagging noise. I turned around. The owner, who had walked towards us, had dropped to his knees and was holding both hands to his throat. You know, the international hand sign for “I’m choking” ?
Then he paused for a second.
“Don’t worry,” he said to me as an aside. “This’ll get his attention. He is a rescue dog.”
Sure enough, I turned back to face Gander. The expression in his eyes suddenly changed from “bemused frolic” to “urgent action.” The giant lug leapt over the snow with the grace of a white-tailed deer. His lumbering gait instantly disappeared as he ran to “save” his owner.
I laughed. The girls stood there for a second, amazement written all over their faces. Then we all turned and went home.
