We are out at the campground this weekend. It's windy and Sunshine is a little more skittish in the wind. Bf's 11 year old nephew is out this weekend. Sunshine knows him well and is usually fine with him in the house, trailer, our backyard, and even if she's out on leash somewhere. He's on her approved safe people list.
Sunshine was nervous and didn't want him to pet her tonight. The wind, darkness, and loud drunk strangers were a little much. Rainy stepped up to the plate for some pets and I stepped between Sunshine and the kid. An effective well practiced move for us.
When we moved to leave, the kid waited until we got about 10 feet away, then ran up behind Sunshine to get a reaction out of her! Of course Sunshine freaked out, skittering forward in a panic. I stopped, turned, and used my handy dandy death voice. "Hey! Don't you chase her to scare her!" "I didn't mean to." Was the response I got. "Yes you did! If you want a momma bear to rip your head off, mess with that dog again." Kid quickly changed the subject asking if a table was made of glass.
The funniest part is that halfway through this Sunshine was glued to my side, not shaking, no tail tuck, and looking at the the kid with a "Haha! My mommy's going to kill you" gleeful look. I was surprised at how quickly she went from terror to watching the kid squirm. The shy ones really do need you to be their protectors.
He's a pretty good kid, just a boy with some judgment lapses like all kids.
