Talking reason to Jackie has proven, unfortunately, to be a futile exercise. Despite which we keep trying. He appears to listen earnestly enough, but quite obviously nothing penetrates that stubborn little skull. He seems neurotically hard-wired to react at the sight of other dogs. Enthusiasm and friendliness would be a very nice reaction but this is not to be with his breed of toy dogs.

Yesterday he foolishly, recklessly, foolhardily went out of his way to demonstrate just how dedicated he seems to be to confrontational greetings. We were up on a high ridge between two valleys in the ravine, when both he and Jillie became excited and agitated over something; we never know what it will be. Their powers of perception in hearing, seeing and smelling what we cannot at great distances place them at an advantage over us when it comes to preparing for a confrontation.

Usually the ruckus peters out fairly quickly; we come abreast of people and dogs we're familiar with and the canines re-acquaint just as the people do. Most frequently the agitation reflects recognition of someone really familiar and it's of a different tenor altogether.

Ascending the ridge from a bridge below it wasn't long before the eruption of one of their infamous barking attacks. The next thing I was aware of, I was separating Jackie and a bull mastiff. There are two of these giant beasts, both of which our own little beast had become familiar with in the past, but we haven't seen them in a year or more. One of them tips the scales at 160 pounds.

Jackie just had to demonstrate his combative skills in facing off against a dog whose head alone was the size of Jackie entirely. The mastiff's initial reaction was mild surprise, turned swiftly to annoyance and that warning of hair standing up on the back of its neck. In an instant the young man whose companions they are arrived and everything settled down. He hadn't been walking his two giant breed dogs in the ravine for the past year, avoiding summer altogether because he felt someone was putting out poisoned treats that made one of his dogs ill.

The last time we'd seen them was in the fall two years previously when one of the mastiffs had a bit of a tiff, loud and menacing with another alpha dog and we made a swift exit from the scene to draw Jackie, who was excited and noisy and snarling, seemingly eager to intervene, away from the scene. The mastiffs are well behaved and not very interested in our two, tending to ramble along off the trail into the depths of the forest and the  young man has complete confidence in their pacific nature. We, on the other hand, have no real reason to share his confidence.

Any dog, however well behaved, can suddenly lash out physically and violently when sufficiently provoked. And it is that provocation quotient so integral to Jackie's breed that concerns us most. Strangely, and most often, his hostile attitude to other dogs dissipates entirely on familiarity in time, and some other dogs in reciprocating interaction want to become too playfully familiar and this tends to alarm Jackie, who then seeks haven from a situation he has himself been responsible for.

Bright? Not that you'd notice.