Larger Than Life
by Donna Fuller

Jackson bolted in through the automatic doors dragging his pet parent, Kimberly, behind. His Clydesdale sized presence seized the attention of every man, women and child. Even other four legged critters were in awe. Customers, groomers, cashiers and managers gravitated towards him and when he stopped, everyone circled this magnificent creature like the paparazzi surround movie stars on the red carpet.

Children yanked their parent’s clothes and ordered, “Take a picture!” People fumbled in purses and pockets for cell phones and waited for this fawn-colored, 145 pound Great Dane to come into focus as he paraded by them. I searched my box under my dog food display table to find my camera.

Excited as the next child, I, too, wandered over to meet Jackson. Smartly, I thought I would greet him with a fistful of the dog food I was selling as a good will offering. Someone should have hung a warning sign around this animal’s neck stating “Objects up close are LARGER than they appear”, because to my surprise at my 5’1” height, we met eye to eye. A bit intimidated by his stature I asked, “May I give your dog some treats?”

Before Kimberly could answer, Jackson inhaled the food from my hand and I looked down to see whether or not I still had a limb. He rubbed his enormous Frankenstein-sized face from one side of my body to the other; marking me as his “bride”, and lifting my small frame off the ground into mid-air like a rag doll. I fell backwards onto a pallet of dog food thinking, “I KNEW that other brand of dog food was good for something.”

Kimberly pulled back on his red “gentle lead” with all her might to regain some control over his friendliness, apologizing profusely.
“He thinks he’s part cat”, she explained.

“It’s OK,” I assured her, dusting myself off. “How old is he?” I asked.

“Only eight months”, she sighed. “When I take him to the children’s hospital for visits, he climbs into their beds. Although you wouldn’t know it, he’s “in training” to be a therapy dog.”

I replied, “He’s wonderful!”

“Yes he is,” she agreed, “And I’ve got three more just like him at home.”