Introducing Bruiser the Bully

So far in this blog, most of the dogs I've profiled have been either friends of mine, or friends-of-friends. Well, I'm going to break with tradition here and introduce you to Bruiser, a nasty bully of a dog who has a well-earned reputation for causing trouble wherever he goes. This 3 year old mutt from the wrong side of the tracks just oozes aggressive canine machismo, and he backs up his trash talk with a tenacious fighting ability acquired during the almost daily brawls he instigates with dogs all over the city.

All a dog needs to do to provoke Bruiser is to make eye contact. While I was taking the above photo the other day, Bruiser was already growling and making threatening overtures, even though I had my buddy Spike (a.k.a. "The Enforcer", whom I profiled in an earlier blog entry) with me as a bodyguard. Spike's not one to back down from a challenge, and the two dogs quickly became engaged in a classic canine staredown, with hackles raised and teeth bared. The air was electric, and a crowd of street dog onlookers quickly converged on the scene.

Then Spike said "Hey Bruiser, aren't you afraid of getting your little booties dirty?" -- a reference to Bruiser's white paws, which look oddly cute and out of place on such a mean-looking dog. Bruiser immediately lunged forward with a ferocious snarling attack, and the fight was on. Now, Spike is a much larger dog than Bruiser, but in a dogfight, anything goes, and the two battled on for several minutes without the emergence of a clear victor. Eventually though, Spike managed to wear down Bruiser with his superior endurance, and forced the bully to flee. Bruiser ran a few hundred meters, and then looked back at Spike with an expression that said "I'll get you back, just you wait."

It seems kind of strange and stupid to me for a dog like Bruiser to be so aggressive and want to fight everyone all the time. I chalk it up to excessive macho energy and an inflated self-image -- a potent combination that has led to the downfall of many a man and beast.