[MyPemCharlie]

Charlie showed his willingness to "protect me" yesterday. My neighbor and I had Charlie and her dog out on a walk when two large roaming dogs approached us and were refusing to leave us alone. I attempted a couple of times to say "Go home!" fairly softly so as not to get Charlie excited. The dogs kept circling and reapproaching. The dogs did not appear to be mean, but my friend's dog is very fearful and the dogs were interfering with our walk. Finally, I said a sharp loud "OUT!". Guess that was Charlie's untaught command. He barked sharply three or four times at the dogs and they ran on their way. My friend said "Charlie saved us from the big dogs!" I was proud that he stayed calm until I lost my patience, then he backed me up. Not something I really expect (or necessarily want) my little guy to do, but it was an interesting show of instinct versus trained behavior.