You ever have a dog that was that rare 1 of a kind? I don't mean an oddball breed but one that was exceptional in every way. My brother use to breed Chows and the line he bred was truly exceptional in every way. He surprised my son one Easter day with a pup. We named him Zeus and that was the smartest dog I ever saw. You didn't have to teach him anything...HE JUST KNEW! He was beautiful and as wide through the chest as he was long through the body. He wouldn't eat unless food was his brand and put in his dish. I saw people throw meat into the yard and he'd simply ignore it. With family he was a big baby but to anyone up to no good he was your worst nightmare. I could walk him in a crowd and he'd rub up against people and be perfectly mellow as long as nobody reached for him nor me. If they did he'd growl. If they persisted they regretted it big time. If I told him someone was ok he'd tollerate them but would never take his eyes off them. If visiters reached for one of our possestions without asking permission he'd let them know that was not tollerated. You tell him "On guard!" and he'd watch whoever was close. If laying asleep he'd come instanly awake and lock eyes on the door. Tell him to "Kick @@@" and he went off on the intended target. If he did something wrong, which was a very rare occasion, you tell him to sit in the corner and he would. After a while he'd slowly turn his head and look at you. Then when told ok he would come over and put his head in your lap as if to say I'm sorry. To show you just how smart he was my brother-in-law would stand outside the yard and good naturedly tease him by calling him dummy and ugly. Our yard was about 3 foot higher than the side walk and you had to step up a few steps to enter through the gate. One day my brother-in-law was teasing Zeus again and suddenly Zeus just turned his back to him and sat down ignoring him. Finally Kenneth gave up and sat on the steps, his back to Zeus, and he continued talking to me. I was on the sidewalk outside the yard. I noticed that now and then Zeus would turn his head and look at Kenneth and told him that Zeus was coniving a way to get even. Kenneth just laughed it off. After about 5 minutes, with Kenneth still facing me not Zeus, Zeus looked at Kenneth, then at me and he lay down and began crawling slowly towards the gate. I just watched to see what would happen. When he got to the gate, right behind Kenneth, he quickly stood up, hiked his leg and peed through the gate right on Kenneth's head! I swear, if a dog can laugh Zeus laughed as Kennth sputtered and cussed! Zeus definitely got even for all the teasing. We lived in St. Louis at the time and word had spread about him through the whole city. I'd meet people for the first time that didn't know me but they knew of Zeus. He finally died of old age and I miss that dog terribly. I doubt I'll ever own another like him.
