Mingus is big. This is his defining characteristic when people first meet him. Mingus is enthusiastic. This can be off putting to new acquaintances. Mingus is smart. This attribute completes a problematic trifecta of personality traits. When we rescued Mingus in 2019, Mingus taught us something about dogs that, despite having them around for over 50 years, we did not know.

Smart, small dogs are great.

Dumb, big dogs are great.

Smart, big dogs are a handful.

Mingus is responsible for chasing, barking, herding, monitoring, playing with squeaky toys and annoying his older step-brothers – Bob and Boone.