Finnegan's Got Your Back

Last week, Finnegan and I were have a friendly conversation with our neighbors. While talking to them, their two nine month old puppies, a boxer* and German Shepard, kept barking at us. The German Shepard did not have the same level of hostility towards us as did the boxer. Any time the German Shepard barked, the boxer would growl and chomp at him. Needless to say, it was a tad disturbing. Each dog took turns barking at us and every time they barked, they were told to shush or given a swat on the butt. It was obvious that they had not had ANY type of training either formal or informal. As usual, Finny stood next to me, just watching the absurdity of these two ill-mannered dogs. The boxer seemed interested in Finny so he hopped closer to the fence so they could sniff and say their hellos. When Finny was about a foot from the fence, the boxer did his crazed teeth baring loud menacing barking routine. Finnegan, both surprised and I must say, seriously pissed, barked right back and with oh-my-god-don't-mess-with-me-mofo attitude showed his big bad teeth. In our almost seven years together, I have never seen Finnegan be that ferocious. Holy shit! That is some scary stuff! I guess having a life threatening disease changes a man. I grabbed his collar and pulled him back. He stood about six feet back doing his typical BARK (wait three seconds) Bark (wait three seconds) bark. And of course, he wagged his tail the whole time. The only other times Finnegan has barked protectively is in the company of me. So perhaps he was not so comfortable with this boxer getting all nasty so close to his mama. I am seriously glad Finnegan is on my side.

*This boxer is in some serious need of guidance from Cubby!