I have two very different dogs. One is a Saint Bernard named Walter, and the other is a Yorkie and Chihuahua mix named Otis. However, there are more things that separate the two of them than just their breeds, like their size, age and behaviors. They also have a few similarities.  

One of the biggest differences is their size. Walter could easily fit Otis in his mouth. Before we had Walter, Otis didn’t seem as small as he does now. Otis has black wiry hair and pointy ears that always seem to stick up. He is also skinny. Walter has white, light brown and soft dark brown fur, and his ears are more floppy and round. Walter also has the largest head out of everyone in my family.  

Otis is around eight years old, and I think at this point he is tired of my family and knows what he wants and likes. While Walter is only 10 months old, and a lot of the things he does are new to him. Walter is still in the puppy phase, and he tries to wrestle with Otis who does not like to play. Still, he is usually the one who ends it because he is a lot more aggressive than Walter. Walter is really gentle, even when he’s not playing with Otis. He likes to lightly chew on our fingers, and he has never bitten anyone in my family. 

Walter is one of those dogs that doesn’t have a problem with the mail carrier, however, Otis is the opposite; he has a strong dislike for them. He has even bit the mailman before. One time we took Otis on a walk, and we saw the mailman on the walk. Otis totally freaked out, and we had to pull him away. Walter loves to play with toys and chew on things, but Otis never uses the toys my family gives him. Walter eats a lot and will eat anything, but Otis is extremely picky. He will only eat a certain kind of dog food, and if we don’t have any more, he just refuses to eat. When we take the dogs on walks, Otis likes to smell everything, so it takes him a lot longer to finish a walk. Walter just wants to meet everyone, and he is constantly pulling towards other dogs and is always on the move. Ever since we got Walter, Otis has been hiding more. We don’t see him as much because he doesn’t want to get involved with Walter. Sometimes I feel like he has been trying less and less to escape because there aren’t as many opportunities. When Walter tries to escape from our house, it’s usually because he sees someone he knows or wants to meet someone, but when Otis runs away from our house, his goal is to make it as far as possible. Otis is a lot more nervous than Walter because he is half Chihuahua, almost everything scares him, while Walter is so big almost nothing fazes him.

Even though they have many differences, Walter and Otis are similar in some ways. They are both very lazy. I think 80 percent of the day both of them are sleeping. They only stop sleeping to eat and go on walks. They both love to go on walks, but neither of them last much longer than thirty minutes. They both love to go on the couch, and they both love to eat the food that we buy specifically for Otis. Both of them like my dad better, but that’s not really surprising because every dog I’ve had has liked my dad better. 

My dogs have many qualities that make them different from one another, and a few that make them similar. I think that their differences are the big reason that they don’t get along. Otis is constantly hiding from Walter, in my room, under chairs and even in the bathroom. I love both of my dogs especially because they are contrasting. It adds more excitement.