A Campus Walk

One day last fall the principal of a local university invited me to come take a walk with Beily and his dogs. I know him through a friend and he is a very friendly older gentleman, who has a great love and fascination for Belgian Shepherds (Malinois). He has about 8 of them on the University campus, where they help out as guard dogs at night. They live a pretty good life, since the university is full of trees and grass, and quite honestly, it's huge! I was really excited to be invited with my dog, both because I knew Beily would love a walk around campus, but also because I find it so fascinating to see dogs interact with each other. I was also excited about the opportunity to TALK about dogs.

I won't lie, I was a little nervous at first. The university dogs are pretty impressive looking, and when we walked up to the fence they barked at us as if they wanted to swallow us (or at least Beily) whole. Luckily, Beily is a clever dog, and she knows when to show her submissive side. She said nothing when they barked at her, I could tell she was a little scared, but she kept her cool and threw herself down on her back to let the other dogs check her out. She was clearly telling them that she wasn't going to be of any trouble, and that she wasn't a threat to them. After that they were all friends, and me and the principal could begin our walk. The university is completely surrounded by a tall fence, so I could relax and let Beily run around as freely as she wanted to. ...She wasn't as good at being off-leash back then as she is now, I kind of have to admit. =) She's great at it now though.

We walked around for a little over an hour, and the dogs ran up and down and here and there. I think sometimes when you have just one dog, they adapt so much to your lifestyle as a human, that you tend to forget they are actually dogs. And then, when you see them run and play with other dogs, it becomes obvious that they automatically fall into this kind of a pack behavior. I find it pretty incredible. Beily loved that walk, and they probably ran more than she had ever run in her life.

For me; that afternoon walk really high-lighted the importance of letting your dog interact with other dogs. It was a very full-filling experience to see how these guard dogs went from hostile and to very accepting, and how they welcomed my dog to come run with them. It was definitely something of a transition, and I am glad it went well. I hope we'll be invited for a walk again someday, it was great.