Boy and dog

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Dogs are Funny

Written by Sanford Begley

 

Little Man and Tricksy playing
Little Man and Tricksy playing


I just went out for a smoke, the dog insisted on going with me. Since we are in a cabin/hotel she is kept on a lead. No need for problems that can arise from a loose dog. Most of those are not the dog’s fault, people who don’t understand dogs are the problem. I most especially include what seems to be the majority of dog owners. Dogs want to socialize with other dogs, they also usually want to meet new people. With most dog owners being afraid of dogs other than their own. and too many people in this country being afraid of dogs in general keeping the dog on a lead is a necessity anyplace but home.

Now people in this country are too afraid of everything in general. I think it is because most of them have been so sheltered for so much of their lives that any remote possibility of danger looms like a cliff. The amount of cowardice I see routinely is enough to make me weep for our country. I do believe it is the primary cause of many of the problems we all face. If you cannot face a dog coming up to greet you it is no wonder you will not allow your children to play outside.

Now getting back to  that cigarette. We have neighbors in the next cabin over, a couple of men in their thirties. They have basset hounds and were walking them. Since she has already been told repeatedly that she cannot go play with the bassets she was good. She simply leaned on the end of her lead and yearned towards them. They went on into their cabins and suddenly my dog remembered that she was supposed to be guarding the cabin.

Immediately upon realization her lack of attention to her self-imposed duty she began pawing the dirt and strutting daring any lowly basset hound to infringe upon her territory. The looks of disdain she cast upon her surroundings, and especially the cabin of the bassets, were worthy of an Egyptian Queen of the Silver Screen. She was haughty and mighty. Then, as I was opening the outer door she snatched up the chew she had taken outside and forgotten and made a rush for the door.

Now in all fairness to her bruised ego she wasn’t worried about the cold or her comforts, she was trying to stay with her adored person. The jolt that pulled her up short caught her completely by surprise. It was enough to knock the chew from her mouth. While prancing her victory against the evil bassets she had managed to get her lead tangled about an outcropping of tree root. The sudden stop only bruised her pride a little 🙂

Look out for the cup of milk!
Look out for the cup of milk!
Boy and dog
Playing keepaway with her boy.

She did wind up getting what she thought a wonderful treat though. DU3, the Junior Mad Scientist, had a cup of chocolate milk. While distracted by her device, watching a video I believe, she sat her cup on the floor. As far as the dog is concerned anything on the floor is hers. You guessed it, we looked over to see the dog enjoying a nice cold glass of chocolate milk while DU3 was oblivious.

What irked the dog the most out of the entire vacation was probably SU1. SU1, code name Little Man, liked the dog’s squeaky ball. He would sit and squeak it, a definite call to play in her mind. Nope, he, like many young men, just liked the squeak.  So he would sit and squeak it until he drove the dog to distraction. She could not grasp the idea that someone making that noise didn’t want to play. Note to all, he drove us to distraction with it as well..

DU2, The Redhead, didn’t present the issues or rewards that her younger siblings did. Like most girls in their mid teens she was mostly buried in her tablet. She came up occasionally, long enough to bestow a pat or two and that was about it. OK a few treats as well.

Speaking of treats, she got plenty of those. I’m not sure what all she got, I just know what the evidence showed. We put out a bowl of dog food on Thursday when we arrived. When we left on Tuesday morning it was still untouched. Now the dog didn’t go hungry during this period, she went from one set of droppings a day to two every day. If the kids weren’t in the house I would have thought it impossible for a dog to produce that much while eating nothing.

There was a truly sad note for the dog though. She knows what packing is, and whenever one of the kids packed a bag out to the car that last night she was disconsolate. Seems like she likes having pack members. Either that or she hates the idea of eating dog food again.


Yep, dogs are funny.