When we first moved to the Bay Area, we were asked by several strangers if Bowdu was a Finnish Spitz. So I became curious about the breed and subsequently became fascinated with several of the Scandinavian breeds, though I’d never gotten a chance to meet any aside from the Elkhound.
After all these years, we finally met our first Finnish Spitz.
15 July 2011
The FS was out with his hired dog walker, who decided to leash him up after he ran away from the pack one too many times.
He had a few pounds on Bowdu, a fact which apparently offended his Shibacentric sensibilities. As I knelt down to take pictures, Bowdu decided to be a jerk and rush in his space. You can tell from Bowdu’s forward lean and the way the Spitz’s ears are pressed back who’s testing whom. Not captured by the photo below is the rapid wag of Bowdu’s tail, which I’ve learned to read more as a sign of his arousal than his friendliness towards strange dogs.
Luckily, the FS didn’t take the bait and turned instead to join the Schipperke in barking at another passing dog.
Bowpi has nothing of Bowdu’s machismo, but she tends to follow his lead and poke her nose in on the action. At this point, I immediately stood up to give them all some space, and moved away so Bowdu would snap out of posturing mode.
Years of anticipation, fizzled in a minute… all because Bowdu seems perpetually to be thinking There Can Be Only One.
