Ace

Ace's Growing Pains and 

Harley's Way of Raising Ace

Ace was born on October 18, 2009 and his biggest adventure started at the age of 5 weeks when he met Harley and shortly after, at the age of 7 weeks, joined his big brother for life. Ace adored Harley from the minute he saw him and with his tiny 8-pound body, he would totter behind his 70-pound big brother as fast as he could at all times. The first few months, Ace would climb all over Harley, take his toys, kiss him all over, bite him on whatever part of his body he could reach, constantly poke Harley, drop toys on top of him and pounce at him from a distance like a cat - all as an invitation to play, but all in an uncoordinated rough manner that he seemed totally unaware of. If there is such a thing as loving too much, Ace certainly was guilty of that from the day he met Harley - the most extraordinary, tolerant, patient and gentle dog I have ever known. Whenever Ace was misbehaving, Harley would immediately stop playing with him and gently correct Ace, trusting that, like all other puppies and adult dogs that Harley has met, Ace would respect Harley telling him off.

Ace was stubborn like a mule with the attention span of a mosquito and either unwilling or unable to understand what Harley was saying, but I could see that underneath all that roughness, Ace had so much love and devotion for Harley and I knew that Harley felt that. It was clear that Ace worshiped the ground that Harley walked on and wanted to be with Harley at all times, but somehow, Ace just couldn't communicate all that love to Harley in a proper manner no matter how hard he tried. 

Months went by and as Ace was getting older and bigger, I knew that Harley would soon stop treating him like a puppy and would eventually tell Ace off in a sharper manner in order to let him know that he didn't appreciate Ace's constant rough manners. And that's exactly what happened shortly after Ace's first birthday. One day, Ace just wouldn't stop his poor behavior even though Harley was giving him one gentle warning after another. Harley patiently waited for Ace to compose himself and when he didn't, Harley stood tall, looked at me as if asking: "do I have to do everything around here?". I acknowledged the look he gave me and said: "go ahead Harley, you know what to do", being absolutely sure that Harley would do the right thing. 

Harley looked back at Ace who by then was trying - with his teeth - to get Harley's front leg off the ground in order to make him fall down. Harley stood firm like a rock watching Ace's hopeless behavior for another few seconds, then gave a long, purposeful sigh and roared at Ace like a lion. It was NOT a growl, it was a ROAR ! Amazingly, while Ace didn't seem to understand dog language, he understood the lion roar and instantly dropped to the floor with his belly and all 4 legs up in the air kissing Harley all over and "sucking up" to him. From that day, Harley took it upon himself to raise Ace and teach him how to be gentle, how to play nicely, how to show love in a sweet manner and how to always forgive. Harley is gentle and fair at all times, and he goes to great length to be the best big brother he can be to Ace, and once in a while when nothing else seems to help, Harley roars like a lion and Ace knows that he has crossed the line.

Ace is smart, beautiful, playful, sweet, affectionate and loving. He enjoys swimming, retrieving, playing games, doing tricks, running around the woods, but above all, Ace loves his big brother Harley. Ace has been a rambunctious puppy and Harley will be the first to confirm that, but as he grows up and with Harley's guidance, Ace is becoming a wonderful dog with a gentle touch.