There's a dog in our neighbourhood that I call Tala's Boyfriend. He's a magnificent collie, very Lassie-like. Tala behaves differently to him than she does to any other dog.
At the dog park, Tala's not especially interested in playing with other dogs. She still bullies smaller dogs that act afraid of her, although not as badly as she used to. We can easily distract her by throwing her ball, or just getting her to run in another area of the park. If the dog stands up for itself and gives it back to her, she likes it and she'll play. But she doesn't show much interest in romping around with other dogs, except when she's home with Cody.
We see other dogs on our walk, and Tala either ignores them or barks once a little bit. She hates the dog next door, obviously a territory thing.
But with this collie, she's totally different. She adores him.
We only see Tala's Boyfriend on our morning walk, and not every day. Tala senses him before we can even see him, and she starts whining - a sad, pathetic-sounding whine that she never uses in any other context. When the Boyfriend is in view, Tala starts jumping in circles (her I'm-very-excited behaviour) and pulling to get over to him.
When we get to Boyfriend, Tala hunkers down, lower than him, and touches Boyfriend's face with her snout - textbook canine submissive behaviour.
Then Tala goes into full play mode - front legs splayed out, rump in the air, tail up - and dances around him, trying to get him to play.
Boyfriend tolerates her, seems mildly bemused to receive Tala's worship. Also standard canine dominance-friendly behaviour.
While this is going on, Cody is sidling up to the Boyfriend's human, giving him her best flirty eyes and trying to get her head stroked.
Tala's Boyfriend's human is not especially friendly. It took him a good eight meetings before he appeared to remember us. He used to just march on by, leaving Tala standing on the sidewalk, whining pathetically. Now he finally stops and waits for us, and gives them a few seconds together.
This whole dynamic is so interesting to me. Why this dog? Why only this dog? There's no explanation that a human can perceive or understand.
In one of Elizabeth Marshall's dog books - I'm not sure if it's The Hidden Life of Dogs or The Social Lives of Dogs - she tells a story about an instant love between one of her dogs and the dog of a contractor who was doing some work on her house. The two dogs had an instant bond, immediately running off to play together, tussling, jumping all over each other ecstatically. Her dog would wait at the window for the truck, and mope on the days the other dog couldn't be there.
If I recall correctly, her dog never displayed this kind of affection for any other dog, either before or since. She tried everything she could to keep the other dog in her dog's life, even trying to buy the man's dog from him!
(If you are interested in dogs and canine behaviour and haven't read The Hidden Life of Dogs, it's a must - fascinating and very readable.)
If Tala's Boyfriend's human was more friendly, I'd ask him if the dogs could have a playdate. Maybe eventually I will anyway.
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