He Simply Wouldn't Budge!

Regardless of what I said or did, he simply wouldn't budge. He was motionless. Our Mr. Wiggles had his sights on someone else. There was a stranger in the house. Though his other master was present, he knew only one 'man' could save us if trouble broke out - our precious Mr. Wiggles.

We were thinking of changing our heating system. The invited stranger had come calling to advise us. By the time this man had entered our garage, our Wiggler knew something was up. He was ready, just in case. By now, it was too late to get our dog outside with his boisterous sister, Sally, the 10 year old sprint star, formerly of the cirque du soleil and last year's 'professional' patient. Promising him treats, if he would leave, did nothing to get him to go. He had a job to do. Nothing could deter him from that.

He stood there, watching this non-family member enter his domain, our house. Mr. Wiggles was an immovable rock, a watch dog like no other, a sentinel on guard like those soldiers guarding the Royal family at Buckingham Palace. Nothing would distract him from the task at hand. I motioned him to move. 'No way'! I implored him to follow his sister. 'No thanks', he seemed to say. His usual boisterous, loving, in-your-face persona, so expected when others came calling, was gone. This 'intruder' was different, a person whose sole reason for visiting us was business, not social. 

As my husband opened the door, Mr. Wiggles stood beside his 'dad' not jumping, barking or whining as was custom. The act of growling had not entered his thinking. He was the FBI, the CIA, on four furry legs. In the nearly 50 years of pet ownership of retrievers, - the first one, an abandoned three-month-old female - 

I had never seen anything like it. This out-of-this-world behaviour of a male adult dog was a first for me! Ever! He said nothing, refused to move while doing absolutely nothing. He was a statue, unlike any 'living' statue I had ever seen.  I continued to watch and watch. Whatever was happening to our dog, it was new to 'John', but not to me. I had seen this before on a few other occasions. Describing Mr. Wiggles' unique style did not do it justice. Seeing was believing, as the saying goes. It surprised me that first time, as it still did today. How could our excitable, happy-go-lucky, in constant motion, carrying a soft teddy for all to admire or take Mr. Wiggles just stand there, staring at this stranger, without no 'chorus'. 

The magic wand of silence had anointed this excitable 75 pound, 5-year-old gentle canine soul. Nothing could move our Wiggler to join his sister, outside, where the queen of noise waited for him. He just waited, silently, and with a resolve, never ever before seen. His eyes were on this man, a nice man, who had entered our house as an invited guest. At a later date, our oldest son was a witness to this shocking behaviour. Like us, he was in disbelief, having never seen it from our wiggler. 

As the heating guy left, our Wiggler moved a bit, keeping this man in his line of vision. Can't be too careful, he was thinking. Not all people are created the same, he knew. When the door closed Mr. Wiggles resumed his normal excitable state of mind, teddy in mouth, tail wagging non-stop, once again. He was back to normal. I doubt my husband ever will be. Our precious human-like pup, carried on as if nothing had happened. But we both knew something had.