Adler's Got Some Competition

Adler is the hit of the neighborhood. Even now, well past her puppy looks, she still gets compliments from strangers. In fact, Tom and I can't go a day without at least one person remarking how striking she is. People have even gone as far as stopping their car to ask us about her breed. Yes, I may be biased but before I owned a Bernese Mountain Dog, I wanted one because they stood out among the other breeds. So it isn't a surprise to say that every pet owner in the neighborhood knows Adler and loves her.

In fact, last week, one of the neighborhood pet owners informed us that Adler has some competition. Turns out someone in the neighborhood brought home a 10-week old Swiss Mountain Dog. The Bernese Mountain Dog and the Swiss Mountain Dog look very similar except they tend to be a little leaner and have short hair, but they are from the same family. Well, today, I got to meet Adler's competition. I decided to take Adler on a late afternoon walk since I was off today. I was in a relaxed mode so I strolled over to our neighborhood park and sat down on one of its benches, letting Adler sniff around. Down at the other end of the park, I saw this couple enter with an adorable little puppy. I quickly recognized that this is the new dog that everyone in the neighborhood was now talking about. Adler must've sensed the competition because no sooner did the puppy come over to sniff Adler than Adler walloped her with her paw and down the puppy went. Of course it was a playful wallop but Adler was relentless. She figured this dog should be able to keep up with her so she chased her around the park walloping the dog on the back and in the face with very chance she got. She even stepped on her once too, I think just to show her who still ruled the neighborhood! Now, I know Adler doesn't have a mean bone in her body but you would've thought otherwise the way she terrorized this little puppy. I guess she just wanted to prove that she's still the queen of the neighborhood.