Dogs

I am a dog person. H, however, is not. This is nothing new to me because we discussed it years ago (it had to come out fairly quickly), and she is learning to like them. She actually likes my parents' border collie (not above), though I don't think she would admit it.

Last week we were with my extended family in TX, where the dog to human ratio is 1:2 (respectively -- not that I counted or anything but this sounds pretty good to me). So she got a good dose of dog, as did we all.

As a person who has grown up with indoor animals nearly all his life, I have to tell you that if you haven't, you may not be aware of some of the small joys that come with the whole thing. First of all, indoor dogs have to go outdoors from time to time (starting roughly at 5:30am every morning) for obvious reasons. This is an easy routine for you to establish with your pet at home. A no nonsense agreement; it starts with either nosing, whimpering, or outright barking, followed by a quick dash outside (maybe some sniffing around if you aren't very disciplined), and back in. And I find that the the driving need for the encounter is, most often, mutual.

So where was I going with all that? Oh, right, so we stayed in one house for most of this holiday, and the dog to human ratio was 1:2 (respectively). There was quite a need the first morning.

This was H's first time to stay with the royal flush of family and dogs. Not having grown up with it, she was not as appreciative of the morning routine as the rest of us. I find a wet lick 'n' sniff first thing to be a welcome wake up call -- H let out a timid yelp of surprise and shielded her face under the covers for a time to recover from the slippery awakening. Of course everyone in my family has their dog pretty well under control. The rest of the day there was not too much shedding, or indoor barking, or butt sniffing (they kept it to the butts on their level). Belly rubs and baby talk were in effect. For the time we were there, H kept her distance, and even though the dogs will come to you, she kept it to a pat on the head. This is all to her credit though as she has come from not liking dogs at all, due to a tragic incident in early childhood with a family owned dog, to petting and talking to them. This dog, still looming in memory, repeatedly knocked her over, stood on her chest, and barked in her face (my cousins would say he was definitely the pack leader). The incident formed an aversion to dogs that lasted until we met. There were other such traumas in early life; choking on peanut butter on bread, getting sick and throwing up after eating too much cookie dough, but I won't mention those aversions here. I like to think that I have been a very good influence on her in this area, but I think it is mostly her willingness to give the species a second chance that is responsible.

Coming home, we did not have the pleasure of riding with the my parents' dogs, instead we went with my sister (someone I almost developed an aversion to as a result of several childhood misadventures). The trip was pleasant -- a little cramped maybe.

Now we are at home and it is just us and our two cats, one is old and one and young, and the old one hates the young one. There are dogs to either side of our house and they have been barking since we arrived. It mostly comes from the nearest one (seen at top). This morning my wife made a comment (that is H for clarity),"That poor dog. Has he ever been off the chain?" I said I didn't think so, but I was also thinking, "WHAT?!?"

Two maybe three years ago H lived next door to a crotchety old man that had a dog that would bark all morning sometimes. He complained about noise in the neighborhood sometimes so maybe the situation isn't totally parallel, but I mostly recall visiting her at this time in our courtship and cringing as she commented about the dog, " I hate that dog, it never shuts up! Someone should just kill it and put it out of our misery." I said little or no admonishing words on the subject of dogs in those days. I only let her get to know H the dog, my parents' border collie:) This morning I am confronted with her sympathy, which is an exciting disposition -- almost subconscious for her.

I am open to all sorts of pets (dogs, snakes, lizards, cats, horses, I even used to want a ferret after watching Kindergarten Cop with Arnold Schwarzenegger), but I have always wanted a dog of my own. My mother almost caved when I brought home a black lab-mix puppy (female) and named it Roger.

Someday I think we will own a dog. H has already graduated from thin-lipped looks at the very mention of dogs to, "well I don't want a little yippy dog." which is a move in the right direction where I am concerened. It's only a matter of time before I come home to find a rescued stray in our living room. Those are always the best.