Gus seems to like every animal he meets — horses, dogs, chickens, humans. He always watches them with calm interest, and if they’re nearby he invariably extends his snout to offer a greeting. The barn manager’s little old dog has invented a game for the two of them, wherein she approaches, he lowers his nose to say hi, and she growls and snaps at him, making him jump back. (My family once had a cat who did the same thing with our dog; despite her hissing and nose-swatting, which made him sneeze, which elicited yet another swat, the two were great buddies.) When Gus makes an overture to the chickens, they just waddle away at top speed with exclamation points over their little heads. The only nice-nice he ever gets is from horses and humans.
But now some friends come to meet him and bring along their two wire-haired fox terriers, Norm and Hank. Both are immediately fascinated by their first-ever donkey, and Gus is very keen to meet them too. At first, the dogs shy away when Gus gets too close and lowers his big head toward them, but all parties (each on a lead line controlled by a human) try more rapprochements. I want to show off some of Gus’s crowd-pleaser tricks, but he’s distracted and attracted by the terriers. Norm is a bit more skittish with Gus than his brother Hank is, though both finally brave a few brief nose-bops. At one point, Hank walks behind Gus and starts to stand up to rest his front paws on Gus’s hocks in order to reach high enough to sniff his butt. ! Gus has never kicked that I know of, but Hank’s owner very properly brings him away. All anybody gets to sniff is noses.
But now some friends come to meet him and bring along their two wire-haired fox terriers, Norm and Hank. Both are immediately fascinated by their first-ever donkey, and Gus is very keen to meet them too. At first, the dogs shy away when Gus gets too close and lowers his big head toward them, but all parties (each on a lead line controlled by a human) try more rapprochements. I want to show off some of Gus’s crowd-pleaser tricks, but he’s distracted and attracted by the terriers. Norm is a bit more skittish with Gus than his brother Hank is, though both finally brave a few brief nose-bops. At one point, Hank walks behind Gus and starts to stand up to rest his front paws on Gus’s hocks in order to reach high enough to sniff his butt. ! Gus has never kicked that I know of, but Hank’s owner very properly brings him away. All anybody gets to sniff is noses.
By going deeper into the arena, farther away from the visitors, I get Gus focused on some cone-fetching and tilt-a-chair games. Then he socializes again with his new friends, and they join him for awhile as he grazes on the lawn outside the arena. Since the entire environment is new to them, the dogs are overstimulated and getting tired; meanwhile, Gus looks gratified, fulfilled, and happy. For him socializing is as thoroughly positive an experience as dining — and when he gets both together, he’s in asinine heaven.
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