One of my former's students had a mom who is a vet. We used to talk about the opaqueness of Asian dogs. A jindo like Kuma or an akita or a chow often get excited when they see people, not because they like people, but because they do plan on biting the person and the thought of that bite is overwhelmingliy exciting.

Unfortunately, little kids, especially those used to retrievers and labs don't get it and think the dog is happy to see them. But really, the dog is seeing them, but merely as an attack object.

Plus, ita, Bear's bigger tell is when she curls her lip and growls.

Bear's bigger tell is when she curls her lip and growls.

That's not a tell. That's an attack in and of itself. For the weaker.

You should warn her that this is a tell.

Note the absence of a Samoyed in this picture.

Frank, wow! I've never seen that much snow all at once. We got 20" here, but a lot of it blew off the top with the wind. We probably only have 13"-14" on the ground now.

Weird thing is, the 5 prior winters I've been in Salem (and most of the rest of last year), there was never all that much snow. I seriously hope this isn't a trend (either for this winter or for future winters).

In my experience, New England is like that. It just goes in waves--a few years of nasty cold winters, a few years of mild ones.

On one of the dog lists I'm on, they talk about how the "northern" breeds read as aggressive to other dogs because of their natural posture and tailset.

We've only got four or five inches on the ground here and I'm already getting tired of it. I have a friend leaving for Belize on Saturday and wish I could go, too.

My dogs are Shepherds. They love people, but of course most people assume they are dangerous. I don't mind it especially (nice to have that security), but it can be annoying.

My sister has always had a Doberman. These dogs were the biggest babies in the world but their appearance just oozes menace.

We had a friend with a lab mix who did smile...and it was freaky. She would come up to you and gaze in your eyes, tail waving madly, and if you smiled at her, back would go her lips and she would grin a huge grin. Since it looked just like an attack posture though, if you didn't know sweet eager-to-love Sophie, it could throw you.