This week's column

Duke the fierce and grumpy
Most of the time, most people find themselves cheering on the little guy.

When David faced and defeated Goliath, everyone cheered, “Way to go, Dave.”

When a small band of rebel forces took on the galactic empire in “Star Wars,” we all yelled, “Use the force, Luke.”

When Rocky took on Apollo Creed, we joined the chant and yelled, “Rocky, Rocky, Rocky.”

When the underdog defeats the No. 1 team in any sport, we all suddenly become fans.

When 300 Spartans battled Xerxes’ hordes, many took on the rallying cry of fighting against the odds. OK, well maybe that one is a stretch and the only reason I cheered on the Spartans when I saw “300” was because it starred Gerard Butler who, as I’ve admitted several times, is my celebrity crush.

But back to the little guy, which brings us to the tale of one foot tall Duke the Corgi who might be one little guy who should leave well enough alone.

I took Duke to Glasgow to a Woofstock pet event where my brother’s vet clinic, Animal Clinic of Glasgow, had a booth. Duke and I walked around, got a few treats, signed up for a few games and Duke even got his picture taken.

We tried one game with a pool full of tennis balls. Kind of like a duck pond game. If the dog removed a tennis ball they got a prize. Duke sat down next to the pool and looked at me like he was thinking, “Are you kidding me? This looks too much like a bath.”

Then something strange happened. Little, tiny, squatty Duke ran toward a German shepherd, growling. Everyone around us just stopped and looked down at him.

I think the shepherd was laughing inside at the thought of this tiny challenge.

My first response probably wasn’t very maternal.

“What are you thinking? Do you see the size of that dog? He can eat you,” I said as I looked down at him.

After that point, he decided to be grumpy and growl at every dog that passed, especially the German shepherds. I guess that day proved that Duke is actually a people dog and not a big fan of dogs outside his immediate circle. He’d be a great therapy dog for people but would probably spend the day in the dog house if he went to puppy daycare.

So for the rest of the event, Duke was in my brother’s booth, in time out.

We did win second prize for the dog that traveled the farthest, but I scratched his name out of the Mr. Woofstock competition because he became Mr. Grumpy Britches.

Regardless of Duke’s sudden bad mood, we did have fun visiting my brother and it looked like the rest of the dogs enjoyed themselves.

The moral of Duke’s story is that sometimes when the underdog takes on a giant the story is retold and cheered by many. But sometimes the little guy should just back down before he gets eaten by a German shepherd.

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