Charly moves on up at dog park

A daily visit to dog park has become our ritual. Charly's best friend is a female German shepherd about three years old. They mouth-duel harmlessly, growling, when not running back and forth. Today we were joined by Bella, a St. Bernard -- big as a house. The two bigger dogs tended to romp off & leave Charly behind, and she was intimidated either by the two giant dogs together or just the new, larger one. So she alternated between chasing after them and dashing away from them... UNTIL suddenly everything changed. Bella went off to one end of the enclosure by herself. Charly watched, crept closer, and jumped at her. Bella is a sweetie, not an aggressive hair on her. Charly got braver, began to bark at her until Bella cringed a little, looking nonplussed. Charly rocketed through the air and crashed against Bella (like she used to do to me), followed by more barking, becoming confident in her new-found power to intimidate. That established, Charly and Bella shared some kisses (and slime) and both seemed happy. Charly lost her fear, showed her stuff, climbed the social ladder, and made a new friend. The three of us dog-people, hanging out at or on the picnic table, felt like we'd been treated to a delightful and dramatic demonstration of canine psychology.