A pug

Yesterday as I started hauling laundry into the busy laundromat I was greeted by a pug. A pug is a toy dog breed that has always reminded me of a miniature bullmastiff. Needless to say, I am fond of them.

"Tico, Tico," his owner called him out of the way. I thought it was funny his name was so similar to my dog, Peko.

Once I started loading the machines, Tico came in for a closer sniff. I crouched down and offerred him the back of my hand. His bulgy eyes bulged even further, and he suddenly backed up into dancing retreat, barking as fiercely as his diminutive size would allow.

I laughed and said, "Oh, I have frightened him! All my animal smells!"

I use a cautious approach with strange dogs, as my scent carries that of many different types of animals, and tends to be especially overwhelming to toy breeds.

I ignored him and continued loading laundry.

As I worked my way down the row of washers in Tico's direction, I started shedding layers of barn coats, tossing them into the washers as I went. (my regular reader will recall I use a lot of washers on laundry day) I finally reached the table and bench on which Tico was perched. He was at the farthest end of the small bench towards the wall. I started chatting him up.

"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you, you are such a cute boy, what a good dog, he's so adorable, la, la, la" in a high pitched soft voice.

He rolled his eyes and bowed his head, seeming ashamed for his previous behaviour, and scooted towards the end of the bench, where he sat proudly. He was showing no fear and acted as if it was ok to pet him, but I didn't. I continued to chat to him and he jumped down and planted himself at my feet.

Slowly I reached the hand out again and he kept his head down and remained still, so I started to lightly stroke the top of his head, making sure that I was prepared to withdraw if he showed fear. I moved onto his shoulders, keeping up the small talk.

I withdrew my hand to go back to loading the washer, and he jumped up on his back feet and placed his front feet just above my knee (his full reach). Ha! He was so handsome! I petted him some more and then I had to quit lavishing attention on him as the last washer I was waiting on was emptied.

Yeah, I still like pugs. :)