Stud's Personality: The Unforgettable
Stud wasn't like other dogs. He didn't respond to commands, dominance, or strangers, only to trust that was genuinely earned. Most people misread him as difficult, but those who took the time to understand him saw something rare: a dog of remarkable intelligence and unshakeable loyalty.
Most people didn’t understand Stud, for which I did not blame them. He was not normal. They thought he was unkind since he did not trust or listen to anyone except his mom and me. People often feel they should be able to control and tell dogs what to do. That’s funny, not Stud. Yelling, pushing, or forcing just made it worse. I went through this early on so already knew. It sent most people into a spiral.
It crushed their ego and made them upset. Stud was too smart, it was on his terms, and you had to earn his trust. People would tell me, you need to show him who the boss is. Yeah, sure, go ahead and try. Stud didn’t operate like that. I have never encountered a dog like this. He would disown anyone, including me, if he was treated poorly. They didn’t know his story. Stud was extremely intelligent and the most loyal soul I know. He expected that treatment in return.
Big Personality
Stud acted like an intelligent human, not a dog. There are different types of dogs and various levels of relationships. He wasn’t a dog. Dogs you pet on the head, throw a ball to, leave at home when you walk out the door, and they bark all the time.
He had some serious critical thinking skills with a massive steel trap memory. His vocabulary was enormous and worked in a fuzzy search manner. I would spit out full sentences and somehow he knew. We spent so much time together that the level of communication between us got complex. There were things he did that I didn’t even have to ask.
I also tried to understand him, but it was challenging. Think about this people train dogs. Dogs learn words and behavior from people. But the reverse is almost never true. Most people don’t try to understand animals. They tell them what to do and that’s that. I tried my best, but to this day there are some things I never will know.
Those who know me best said he wasn’t even a dog. He was my son. We followed each other’s side. There were exceptions. One, when animals ran his prey instincts would kick in. I was able to yell at him to stop 99.5% of the time. Well talk about that .05% later. The second semi exception is was when it got cold out. I say semi exception because he wouldn’t go full zone out. He would just you know, listen less. But you pair those together and you have a wolf with tunnel vision.
For the 6 months I kept him on a leash. Then I would practice little by little off leash in safe areas. He didn’t care about other dogs when we walked. If it bothered people I had a short leash I would grab.
There are some overly hyper people out there who lose their marbles if they see a dog off leash. Sometimes someone would be screaming at the top of their lungs and he would be right next to my side, while their own dog was barking its brains out and dragging them. The energy always matches. Calm down it will be okay. I am not joking. There was one time we were walking, he was off lease at a park where there are not a lot of people. A lady had a bigger dog I cannot recall what breed. The dog lost it. It pulled her, she fell, and the dog started to drag the owner. The owner was getting dragged was yelling at me.
His navigation skills were unmatched. There are several stories of him leading me to food or treats that were miles away. When visiting Petoskey, we visited a store that had treats out front. Great place by the way, worth the visit.
The following year, in the summer, we returned. We parked about a mile away from that same store. He was constantly pulling on the leash. I started to get pissed off. When we got a block away, it hit me. I just thought to myself, how is that possible? His memory was better than mine. Was it smell? What was it? Is that actually possible?
He had personal awareness and manners like a human. In the dog world, he would have an issue with dogs that did not have manners or give him respect. Each time I observed it, I couldn’t help but believe I would feel the same. He was very dominant. If another dog did not have manners, he would teach them. If they didn’t listen and kept pushing, he would do so by force.
I took Stud so many places that we would encounter hundreds of dogs on average weekly. That is not an exaggeration I would take him to a dog park that was 10-15 acres with 25-50 dogs on busy days. At least twice a week we would take a route through subdivisions where we would always see and meet several dogs. He pranced along beside me like a king.
I never saw him lose a fight. Stud was a killer. And while I don’t encourage fighting, I stopped recalling him after the second year. I learned to trust his instincts. He did not go around picking fights at all, never. But he would make sure to end them when necessary.
For the first year I thought he was the problem. I would yell at him, but then I started to notice something. I first saw it at the dog park. What looked like a perfectly nice dog, Stud wanted nothing to do with. When the dog came over he would give it a growl basically saying, I don’t like you, get away. The same dog kept coming back, probably 5-10 times. When Stud wasn’t paying attention, that same dog came up behind him and jumped on him and bit his back.
Stud’s wrath was something else. It wasn’t a fight. It was complete domination. He could have killed that dog, but he didn’t. He had him by the neck. The lady started screaming at me. I just shrugged and said he told him like 10 times. Your dog didn’t listen, you were on your phone not paying attention, then he jumped on his back and bit him. What did you expect?
I never knew what we were going to get into, but I was always confident and didn’t have to worry about him. Stud and I were en route when a massive pit bull ran so fast it broke the collar from the metal chain. It was running full clip and stopped a foot from Stud’s face. I was shocked they just sniffed each other and the massive pitty turned around and went back to his house. That wasn’t always the case.
Particularly two dogs that were not friendly attacked him when he was a puppy while wearing a cone. My ex was with him, and I was furious when I got home from work. I’ll never forget when he got older, the same dogs would always run into the road to attack him. The people were trash. I told them several times to keep their dogs in the yard.
Well, one day it got ugly. As he trotted along the subdivision road, they both came sprinting out. The first one tried to bite his neck while the second attacked him from behind. Like lightning, he grabbed the first one by the throat and shook him violently. The first one went down crying.
As the owner ran out trying to stop it, I stood there and watched. I was cheering and snickering at the same time. Stud turned around and grabbed the second one by the neck. It went down whimpering. As the lady ran to the second one, the first got up. Stud put him down again, harder this time. There was blood on the road. The lady was yelling at me. I smirked, “I have asked you over 100 times to keep them in the yard. Every time someone walks by, your dogs attack them.” I told Stud good boy, and we went on our way. Stud was a killer and I absolutely loved it. I don’t want a dog that I am always trying to defend.
When I was younger, I was picked on by kids older than me. I backed down at first because I was scared. If there is anything I hate more than lying, it is bullying. After that, I started training and would never be put in that position again. As for Stud, he had a killer instinct and took absolutely zero shit. I loved it. It helped my confidence watching him over the years. For a while I thought he was the problem, but after paying closer attention it was always the other dog.
I’ll never forget a Russian guy at the dog park who had an absolutely jacked pit bull. The dog had scars all over it. You could tell it was going to be an issue. If I had to guess, it was part of a fighting ring. The Russian guy spoke very little English. The dog was somewhat friendly but still walking around like it owned the place. It’s the only dog that came close to giving Stud any competition. They went at it for 10-20 seconds before I could break it up. I thought Stud would be in trouble, but he didn’t back down. Somehow, they both walked away.
