Sweetie, age ain't nuthin but a number....

I have been a dog owner for most of my life. The years that I have been out of college are really the only years where I haven't actively owned a dog, and I have to admit I miss it a little bit. I was at a mall recently and there was this really adorable little puppy and I think that if I had the time or space I would love to get a dog; one with which I could really do stuff, like jogs or playing catch or whatever.

But as a dog owner I have a respect for them. Dogs are animals. End of story. I happen to think that dogs have no places in people-y places like... oh... restaurants. And I also think it takes a certain type of real shit-bag person to think that I am willing to forgive the mange and general doggedness of dogs at a public eatery. But I am digressing and worst of all ranting.

What I wanted to talk about was that I also respect dogs for being animals, and not people, and recognize that often times dogs will do things that make sense to them and not always to humans. So today I was out playing frisbee with a friend of mine. We were in this park here in Providence and this woman walks through with a dog that was on a leash and an old Short-Haired Pointer. Beautiful old dog, had some damage to the legs and was limping a little bit, but generally a dog that can be off a leash and not menace people. So this woman passes in front of me and the dog comes in front of me and stops directly between me and her. Which is a protective stance for a dog. The dog is saying, "hey there buck-o, I got my eye on you, so no funny business."

But the dog wasn't snarling and the woman was telling me that he used to be a great frisbee dog. And so I asked, "Is he friendly?" You know before I go and shove my hand in the dogs face.

The woman's response made me realize that she knew positively nothing about dogs, except maybe that they like to eat and shit. She said, "a fifteen year old dog, what makes you think he has a mean bone in his body." Gosh, I really don't know. But I have seen more pitbulls and Mastiffs that are perfectly sensible beasties on the leash or under no threat, but would just as soon take your hand off if you give them an opportunity. See a lot of times a dog doesn't necessarily recognize the difference between an attacker and a well-intentioned stranger; not to mention there are well documented cases of dogs not liking particular groups of people. I knew a dog that couldn't stand people in work boots. I swear to god if you were wearing Timberland or Wolverine boots this dog would flip out. But you take the boots off and it was lovey o'lovihan. So I figure error on the side of caution and ask.

But this woman was genuinely offended that I asked if her dog was friendly towards people it didn't know and she wandered off to her car muttering under her breath and generally giving me the fucking stink-eye.

Todays Blog o' the day:
Dear Life...
Why?
Jesus, this one has it all and has made my book marks, it is funny, poignant (without being pompous), well thought out and really really fun to read (not the same as funny, I assure you), and it has some neat formatting feature that I would like to learn how to do, so that I can incorporate them into site, but it reads easily. Damn. This is one of those blogs that I hope I can start a relationship with, is it possible to have a romantic relationship with a blog? Not the writer but the blog itself. Hmmm????

Honorable mention goes to (I feel a little dirty leaving a note on a website when mine is so riddled with cursing):
Miss Kelly's Notice Board
Why?
Read the introduction. This is a teacher who has started a blog to keep parent's aprised of their children's homework obligations. What a great idea, I hope it works. There isn't anything necessarily funny about it, but it is a great use of technology. I hope that Miss Kelly finds it useful and I hope that she wins an award for being thoughtful and industrious.