I'm sure you mostly all know, but Nadi is my dog and she really doesn't like other dogs. She doesn't try to attack them or anything like that, which is good since she is the size of a handbag, but she just wants them to go away and leave her alone. Every now and then a younger dog will try to play with her and she lets them know sternly in doggy language to "get the hell away from me."
I was quite grateful the other day when I was randomly walking and saw a cute face in a cafe that is along our usual walking path and the owner and the dog came out to say hello to both of us.
Meet Lotos. Lotos is a two year old Russian Toy Terrier and it is a breed that I didn't know existed. I would imagine that they are quite common in Russia but here in SE Asia, I have never seen one. When I was walking I thought I could see a cute face checking us out but it was too far away and I couldn't be sure because my eyesight isn't the best. I was also a bit concerned about if I was starting to look like a creep because Lotos was sitting with his quite attractive female owner at the cafe and if there is one thing I try to not be, it is creepy.
When we walked past my suspicions were confirmed, there was a really cute dog sitting there and I just said hello to the owner and the next thing I knew we were talking about dogs and her dog came down to greet Nadi and Nadi didn't recoil in fear or annoyance. I think this is probably because Lotos wasn't super aggressive and didn't really seem to care if Nadi was interested in him or not either. I suppose they are "birds of a feather." They want to know what the other creature is, but don't feel compelled to be all over them and act all spastic.
I sometimes feel like I baby my dog too much so for me, it was really nice to run into someone that does at least as much of that as I do. Lotos was sat next to her when we walked to go get some coffee and snacks and when she got up to use the restroom, Lotos just stared in the direction she walked in, looking quite confused and perhaps worried. I had to hold Lotos while the owner was away and surprise surprise, Nadi didn't have a problem with this Normally, Nadi gets super jealous whenever I touch another dog.
I think that me and this woman have very similar styles as far as ownership is concerned because she brings her dog everywhere that she goes, almost. In fact, she is more devoted than I am because the owner doesn't live here, she is traveling the world and going only to places that she can bring the dog with her. She will not allow the dog to go into cargo on a plane, train, or bus, so if the transport provider isn't able to accommodate the dog, she doesn't go. She also has to get health paperwork and proof of vaccination on every single border crossing that she goes to. I know from experience that this severely limits the amount of countries that you can visit since about 40% of the desirable nations in the world have some sort of quarantine that the dog must go through. The Latvian owner of this cute doggo feels the same way that I do in that nobody will ever be allowed to quarantine my dog, never ever!
The entire day that we were out and ended up joining other friends as well, Nadi just took it easy and wasn't at all bothered by Lotos being there, even if we put them on the same chair.
I want you to try to understand how incredibly unlikely this is. Nadi doesn't HATE other dogs, but she is just bothered by them being near her. So while I would probably assume that Nadi would prefer that Lotos go away, this is about as close to having a friend that Nadi is ever going to get.
It was a wonderful day for the dogs and because of Nadi I made a Latvian friend, which is something I have never done before also. I guess it was a day for first times across the board.
And on that note Nadi is standing near the front door looking at me and indicating that it is time for us to go on a poopy-walks, so I guess I must comply.