While we were in Wisconsin this week, we stayed at my brother-in-law’s house. He and his wife breed Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs, and they currently have eight dogs (and two cats and a lizard, if you’re counting) living on their farm. I met two of their dogs a couple years ago, so I knew how truly massive “Swissies,” as they call them, are. They’re beautiful animals, but when I say “massive,” I mean over two feet tall and an average of 125 lbs.As we went to bed the first night, my husband mentioned that one of the big dogs was sleeping in the house. It didn’t really matter to me at that moment, but I was so glad he mentioned it later that night. Around 3:00 am, I woke up and needed to use the bathroom. So I walked downstairs, bleary-eyed even though I’d managed to grab my glasses. I opened the door to the main level, squinted at my niece who’d fallen asleep on the couch in front of the TV, and turned into the kitchen. And abruptly stopped.
Sully, the prize-winning (read: largest) Swissie of all, was standing in the middle of the kitchen. Now, I’m not afraid of dogs. I may be a cat person, and I may not want a dog of my own. But I’m not scared of them.
And besides, I know that this particular breed of dog is called “the friendly giant” because of their reputation for being so, well, friendly. But I won’t deny that as I walked calmly by Sully into the bathroom, I may have shut that door a little faster than normal! Especially after the good guard dog started growling and howling quietly but urgently.
I don’t blame him – Sully was just doing what he should. After all, I was a stranger waltzing into his owner’s bathroom in the middle of the night! As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, he may be telling his friends this very same story. But instead of talking about a brave woman persevering (yes, persevering to the bathroom) despite being startled by a ginormous dog, his story features a kind but brave dog protecting his territory from a strange human lady with crazy hair.
Of course, the ending of the story is the same. We both went back to sleep after my sister-in-law hollered, “Hush, Sully!”
* Photo from Dog Breed Info Center.
