Insomnia and also
@Beanwood 's post on her "He's friendly" thread made me want to add this...
I was out with Carbon a couple days ago in a nearby town and we walked past a man with a boy of 10 or so who looked to be his son. The boy had a long stick and was pointing and waving it at Carbon, so I just swung Carbon out of his path and went on walking. We got a couple meters away and the kid shouts something at me.
"What was that?" I say (my German still stinks).
"Does he bite?" repeats the kid.
"No" I say. Yes, I usually have a smarter answer for this oft-asked question, but was tired and the kid was still coming at us with the stick looking like he wanted to poke Carbon's eyes out - so I was making for safer pastures.
The kid is still coming after us with the darn stick, even with the father right there...on his mobile, of course.
So I stuck Carbon behind me, turned around and said to the kid,
"Do YOU bite?"
The kid stopped (finally), looked at me as if I was crazy (takes two to tango, sweetheart) and says,
"No!"
Then I said, "Fein gemacht, sehr brav"....which is more or less "Well done, good boy" but in language more suited to dogs than humans, if you get my drift.
The kid looked completely gobsmacked and the dad (finally) looked embarrassed and came over to tell him to put down the stick.
I don't know if the moral of the story is that kids can be jerks or that my German is getting better.
With Brogan, I would get that "Does he bite?" question in the US on a near-daily basis. I always thought it was ridiculous because (1) he's wearing a rubber ducky bandana and a service dog vest and (2) if you're scared he'll bite, don't walk right up to his face and ask "Does he bite?"
But hey, society looks badly on people who are jerks to kids so I had lots of pat answers.
My favourite:
"Does he bite?"
"Mmm... well, he already had one kid your size this morning for breakfast, so he's still full. I think you're safe".
It was funny how it always took the kid a few beats to figure out I was kidding. Then I'd usually say, "You know, if you want to pet him, just ask that first, ok?". And then they would pet him, never failed.
Anyway, the experience with Carbon made me realise how little I get that question with a Lab compared to a Rottie. It really is true - everyone loves a Lab! Well, except for weird little German kids brandishing sticks.
