Your dog can be your wingman, watchdog or a hater
If my watchdog doesn’t like you, then maybe I shouldn’t either

Dogs are a good judge of character. I hear this all the time as a dog walker. Generally, I believe it. But I have no idea what Faith, my German Shepherd, knew about one particular gentleman I crossed paths with while walking her.
Minus mail carriers, she was usually a quiet walker. She’d memorized who I stopped to speak to, whose gates I was going to hang out in front of and who I’d pass by without a word. Her attitude mirrored mine. Even when she did bark behind our fenced-in yard, I knew I could bury my entire face in her fur and be greeted with a lick on the face.
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As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage from purchases with my referral links. I know some consumers are choosing to boycott Amazon for its DEI removal. However, after thinking about this thoroughly, I want to continue promoting cool products from small businesses, women-owned businesses and (specifically) Black-owned businesses who still feature their items on Amazon. As of the first date of Black History Month 2025, each new post will ALWAYS include a MINIMUM of one product sold by a Black-owned business. (I have visited the seller’s official site to verify that Amazon Black-owned logo.) I am (slowly) doing this with older, popular posts too. If you still choose to boycott, I 100% respect that decision.
But I recall one particular walk that still strikes me as strange. A car cruised by as we were walking, and the driver got out to talk to me. She let out a low growl and showed her teeth. That growl turned into barking loud enough to make Stephen King’s Cujo probably want to tell her, “You need to chill out.”