The Not So Dumb Babysitter

Annette1

Jedi
I saw this new addition and thought I’d post an experience of mine. Also, thank you for this new board. I enjoy our 2-D friends and stories about them, so I thought I'd add one here.

We had a German Shepard, given to us by a single woman who had originally purchased the dog for protection. At the time, I was around 12 years old and my siblings ranged in age down to age six. There were four of us kids. He was a welcomed playmate by us. At the time, on his hind legs he was about 4 ft. 6in. tall, weighed about 80 pounds and the vet measured his jaw grip at 180 pounds.

One afternoon, my parents left the house to grocery shop. Being the oldest, I was left to “baby-sit”. My sister and I got into a heated argument whereupon she socked me, then took off running to the refuge of our shared bedroom with me in hot pursuit, cuz I was intending to sock her back. My sister threw herself on her bed face down and I landed on top of her, fist in the air ready to slug her.

The dog caught my arm in mid air and growled as he firmly held my arm. Was I ever surprised. The dog did not break my skin or hurt me. I was so stunned by the dog’s reaction, I completely forgot about slugging my sister and riveted my attention to the dog. We were eyeball to eyeball. His growl was like an admonishment from him that he was not going to tolerate violence. I relaxed the muscles in my arm and his grip loosened. Just to see what the dog would do, I deliberately tightened the muscles in my arm again and he tightened his grip and growled again. When I relaxed and had calmed down, he let go of my arm. He also stayed nearby and kept a watchful gaze on us. Turns out, he was an excellent baby-sitter.

This same dog would play “musical chairs” with us, though the game was modified to accommodate him. He would go around in a circle with us and just watch us. When we all ran for a chair, he would nip at your thighs and hindquarters until you evacuated the chair and he would then hop up on the chair. Obviously, he always won.

I am always amazed by our 2-D friends, especially when they exhibit some learned behavior that they pick up on their own just from observing and being around their human companions. Most times we seem to give them so little credit. I am also impressed by their ability to sense the mood of their human companions, especially at their attempts to comfort when they sense it is needed. They’re great teachers sometimes as they offer us another perspective when we pay attention.
 
the dog caught your arm? wow that sounds like its straight out of a dr.dolittle or something :lol:
 
We had a German Shepard when I was younger myself. I find they are very smart animals indeed. I figure since he was purchased for protection he was probably anti-violence to say the least! :lol: But he did have enough sense to know enough not to hurt you!
Annette1 said:
This same dog would play “musical chairs” with us, though the game was modified to accommodate him. He would go around in a circle with us and just watch us. When we all ran for a chair, he would nip at your thighs and hindquarters until you evacuated the chair and he would then hop up on the chair. Obviously, he always won.
I had to get a good laugh outta this one Annette. I could just see you all running around with the dog. :P
 
Ooops, I should have written; the dog caught my forearm in his mouth. I mentioned his 180 pound jaw grip for this reason. The dog applied enough pressure to restrain me, but did not mark or break my skin or otherwise hurt me. However, he (the dog) was quite adamant about what he intended.

I agree Pete. German Shepards are noted for their intelligence and loyalty.

Baron (the dog's name) was quite intelligent and fiercely protective of us. Sometimes, I think he thought of himself as "one of us" kids. We played with him often and with four of us he got quite a bit of attention. We shared our candy with him. Tootsie Roll Pops were one of his favorites and he actually held the lollipop stick between his paws (while lying tummy down) and gnawed away at the candy until he devoured it. Course, we were obliged to clean up after him and throw away the stick. He did know not to eat the cardboard stick. We also would buy him his own ice cream cone, though one of us would hold it as he licked away at it. Our favorite to feed him was peanut butter cuz it would stick to the roof of his mouth and it was amusing to watch him.

On one of his "escape" escapades (hopping the backyard fence) he ran into the street and was hit by a car. He was somewhat banged up, but survived. During his recovery period (about 2 weeks) he was barely getting around. We lavished all our attention on him. He was obliged to pretty much park himself in one spot and when he did move he was limping painfully. For those two weeks we kids would head straight for him when we hit the front door (returning from school) and make a big fuss over him, petting him and bringing him his water bowl and he would pitifully lap some water. According to my mother, at the end of two weeks he had followed her all over the house as usual, barely limping at all. The minute he was alerted to our arrival home from school, he immediately laid on the floor expecting his new found attention; to be fussed over royally. Yep, he was no dummy. :lol:

edit: grammar
 
I love this story!

It reminds me of a German Shepherd "Heidi" I had as a child who did a similar thing. When we played "tag" sometimes it would get out of hand and Heidi would "nip at" (but not actually touch) us if we got too rambunctious.

Also, one time when my stepmother was about to hit me, Heidi got between us and growled at her.

And, if we let someone in the yard, Heidi would be friendly and sociable. However, if that same person came at a time when we were not home, Heidi would not let them in our yard. At least that is what some of our friends reported to us.

I must agree that German Shepherds are quite smart.
 
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