Phyfe is the most laid back sweetie ever. Nothing phases him. Of course part of that is because he is not the most attentive dog in the world. Sometimes he really seems to be daydreaming, or asleep on his feet. His most common expression is that of bewilderment "Wha happened?"
He's very willing, but a little slow. Not so much dumb, as that the signals from his brain take a long time to get to the rest of his big body. When you say "sit" you can see the command sink in- then slowly the gears mesh, and his butt lowers to the floor. Same with any other command- he does it willingly and well, just don't be in a hurry.
He doesn't really play with other dogs, we suspect he grew up with horses and he doesn't really understand dog games. At the dog park he joins in the initial wild chase, then he'd rather hang out with the people. He doesn't fetch, or do tricks. He's an incredibly loving dog, and my "leaner" He loves to come and lean against my knees and smile, like he's thanking me for his new life. Balancing all this sweetness is a fierce protective instinct. He ignores visitors when we are home, but woe to anyone who tried to enter when we weren't. He also doesn't like strangers touching our car or our stuff. I can leave my purse on a picnic table in the park and walk away, if anyone went near it they'd get Phyfe's big growly GET AWAY FROM THAT bark!
Earnest- well, Earnest
He's not a dog, he's a five year old human in a dog suit. Amazingly smart, Earnest understands everything that goes on around him. He knows lots of people language, and when he sees something new he will look at me with his brow wrinkled until I tell him the word for it. "Llama, Earnest, that's a llama." then he'll kind of dip his head to acknowledge the word and walk on. He talks, too. He has a huge range of noises and groans that all mean something very specific. He's taught me as much of his language as I have taught him of mine.
Show him once and he's got the basics of any trick. Repeat it ten times or so and he's got it for life, even if you don't ask for that trick for months.
Earnest loves big machines, like track hoes and the street sweeper. One night at an odd time he insisted he needed to go potty, so I took him out on the lead in the front yard. Instead of sniffing he kept looking off down the street. Turned out the street cleaning machine was coming, and he lied to me about going potty so he could see it better!
He very much acts like a kid, too. He'll crowd the skinkid off the couch if he thinks he can get away with it, and act extra sweet and beg with those soulful eyes to get to go to work with mommy.
Romie the manx is HIS cat, we can't go to sleep until Romie comes to bed, too. He ignores the other two cats, but looks for Romie every time we come home from somewhere. He'll back off from his dish so Romie can eat, but the other cats get chased away. I think he thinks she's some kind of weird dog- that makes sense because she seems to think so, too.
He's the Alpha dog most everywhere, but it's all posture and show. Most dogs just acknowledge his superiority and he doesn't need to prove anything, but if a dog objects to having it's feet or neck mouthed, Earnest won't fight, he'll just walk away. Rather than push the issue he somehow has the ablity to isolate the dog that is dumb enough not to recognize his leadership. He just walks away-- but he takes all the other dogs with him.
He loves everyone, and if a burglar came he'd just show him where the cookies are.
