Thoughts on trust

I came across a man and his dog today and had an interesting chat. Flow and his dog Wolf seemed to recognize each other immediately and played to there hearts content. We, although we have never seen each other before, were happy to meet, it’s not every day you come across someone with the exact same rare breed dog and share stories. After praising the beauty of each others dog and the breed, we started comparing. So, the man asked, does Flow hunt? Does she ever, she hunts everything from mice to deer. We both agreed that they go into a zone and are unstoppable. He shook his head and I nodded, “It’s the wolf in them”. So how’s Wolf with other dogs, I asked. Well, the man responded, as long as the other dog is an Alpha, he’s fine, but otherwise.....he can be downright dangerous. Yes, Flow is the same, I need to stay the leader of the pack at all times. He shook his head as I nodded, “ Yep, it’s the wolf in them”. Meanwhile Flow and Wolf were nowhere to be seen. It’s always the same isn’t it, the man said, he never stays with you, not like something like that, he pointed at NaNa who was sitting at my feet. No, I said stroking NaNa’s head, Flow makes these huge loops around me, but she always seems to know where I am. He shook his head and I nodded, “Well, it’s the wolf in them” “They are not to be trusted” the man added. I didn’t say a thing, see, I trust Flow completely. NaNa started to whine as she always does when she gets bored, silently I thanked her for it and gave a sharp short whistle. Within seconds Flow came running up to me, Wolf in hot pursuit. We said our good-byes and went our separate ways, and without a fuss our dogs followed there own pack.

On my way back to the car I wondered why the man didn’t trust his dog. Sure they are a handful, but I trust Flow completely. I know she knows where I am at all times, when she is out off my sight. I trust her to hunt and chase anything that will run away, and I know that, when she sees her chance, she will kill a chicken or even a fawn, but I also trust her to gently pick a kitten out of Mo’s litter and carry it around carefully. I also know that she trusts me completely when I tell her no, or when the world gets to scary for her. She is not at all like NaNa who I trust completely with my eyes and ears closed. With Flow I need all my senses wide open at all times, she is a great teacher. I expect her to be the Tsjech wolfdog that she is, like expect NaNa to be the Canadian Alsatian that she is. So I figured, trust must be determined by your expectations.

By the way, I took the bleu route again, and saw the dreaded hill for what she really is ... just a bump in the road.