Saturday, March 29, 2008

For The Love Of Dogs....all dogs, mostly


I'm a dog lover. I haven't always considered myself one, mainly because I never really took the time to devote much time to any of the dogs I've known until I was almost fortyish. Oh sure, we had a dog or two growing up. Mostly I remember the maintenance part of having a dog. Feed the dog. Let the dog out. Let the dog in. Pick up the dog poop....what? We played with the dog, and he ate my vegetables for me, but mostly not much bonding stuff going on.....not really.

If I had taken the time to smell the roses....you know, make an effort to find out if dogs were all they were cracked up to be. If only I had taken the time to gaze into a pair of eyes that made your heart melt......like these.




Ok, so thats not a real dog...but he's cute, and he has "love me" written all over his face.

Just so you don't think I'm nuts, I don't go gaga over all dogs. I'm not really crazy about the pure bred, cropped tailed, bandaged eared, nip and tuck kind of pedigree dog. I mean, to me a short little nub of a tail doesn't really wag! I don't watch professional dog shows, but I will watch the funniest dog videos, and all the silly shows where the dogs sing and play the harmonica. Those I love.

But then the world is tipped up on it's flat side when this guy wins the Westminster Dog Show. Yep, Uno, a friggin Beagle...for the first time. And it's about time!


The world went crazy! All the poodle lovers cried. I mean Uno is cute, adorable and smart but are beagles considered aristocrats? Are they? Everyone loves their floppy ears and wagging tails. The go nutso with their baying...or is it a howl? Anyway I thought they were cute and cuddly. So now Uno is a total celebrity .....he has been on every talk show except the View. He even went to Camp Snoopy at Knott's Berry Farm in SoCA to meet Snoopy. Snoopy is a beagle too.

I remember when Knott's Berry Farm was free...and cute boys hung out there.


.....And this guy got jealous because he has never been invited to Camp Snoopy. Instead, he pines over Lady. Sure, like she would really dump Tramp for Pluto!So at the age of 38, I get this guy.......he was a gift and just a baby. He was almost untrainable because I didn't know how....but we muddled through, and became best friends. His name was Charlie, and he lived to be almost eighteen. He loved me...and I loved him. He was gentle and wouldn't hurt a fly...but if he thought you were hurting me then too bad for you! He taught me how to understand and appreciate dogs.

Then I noticed other dogs that were wonderful. They weren't mine...but they were my friends just the same. This is Maggie and she is one hot Lab!

Even when I take my granddaughter to a friend's son's birthday party the dog becomes our main attraction. This granddaughter not only looks like me, she loves dogs and pedicures too.


In April of last year, I move to Texas. You didn't know that? I mean really, I may have mentioned it a time or ten! I can't wait to spend time with the Texas grandkids. They told me they had a new dog but blah, blah, blah.....so what!

Meet JJ......I saw that face and I swear I heard him say "are you my grandma?"
JJ was only about six months old. About three days after I arrived in Texas JJ jumped in the air and came down wrong. He limped, and whimpered and I got scared. We headed off to the vet. Since I wasn't his owner we had to turn the town up on it's end to get him taken care of. Some of his records were with the previous owner, and some where at a different vet's office.

I spent ten months living with JJ and his family. I held his hand when he got neutered.....well, not physically...but in spirit. We went for rides in the car almost daily. We shopped at PetSmart and Walmart. We napped together and checked the mail together.

The one thing I avoided was letting JJ sleep with me. Afterall, he had a mom, dad, sister and brother who loved him...and he loved them. He has his own bed and over a period of time he started sleeping with his sister on a regular basis. When the family left for work and school in the morning, JJ would scratch at my bedroom door, and I would let him in and we would cuddle until I got up.

I visit JJ about once a week. We roll around and bite each others tails...well, he thinks my hand is a tail sort of. We go for a ride in the car and then it's "hasta", until the next time.

Today, I went over to see JJ. This is how it usually goes.......

................and neither can I. Then we do this! JJ rides shotgun and loves "chasing all the bad guys away". We go shopping and he gets a new toy. I take him back home, and say "hasta" again.

I think about how much he reminds me of this old guy.

I get back to my apartment....really glad that I don't have the upkeep of a pet, but I still have JJ to visit and play with whenever I want.

I walk up to the mailbox and glance over at the swimming pool.......

Could this be one of my neighbor's cats?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haha! That cat was really creepy but JJ is really cute. That's how I like pets - where you can go visit and play with them and then leave them there and not worry about the poop picking up and vet visits!

heartshapedhedges said...

Im not sure when you fell sooo in live with dogs. I remember going to the pound a lot, when I was little. We would pick out a dog, spend all day coming up with a cute name, and then it would spend the next week pooping on the floor, and we always had to give it back. I think you didnt have the "dog bug" at that time.

Charlie....uh, you mean the "dog" you made me refer to as my "brother"..yeah, he was cute. Was he really 18?? Isnt that like, 126 in dog years?? Wow!

Funny that you have that picture of Beauty hugging a dog, Im gonna guess it took you 3 hours and some bribing to get that picture, because usually she shrieks and runs when she sees a dog. She used to be afraid of her friend's dog, but then he died, and now she always talks about how much she misses him!!

I dont mind dogs, but I will say, that people have taken things to the extreme here! I see dogs in the supermarket, in restaurants, (the health code apparently means nothing.) It's a bit out of hand, IMO.

I hope you have a good time on your visits with JJ. He really isnt what I had pictured. Do you give him marshmallows?

M said...

Cute pics :)

I LOVE dogs...and cats, rats, lizards, and fish....don't tell anyone- but my dog comes to work with me and sleeps under the table. I agree w/Kim, I never bring him in stores...that makes me crazy...peopel go a little extreme - my dog is too big for a doggie purse anyways :)

The Traveling Yogi said...

Very cute dog. It looks like a dog my son would like. We don't have a dog at the moment. Our last dog died in August at 14 years old and we haven't gotten a new one yet. Maybe sometime this year.

M said...

I forgot to say- I REMEMBER WHEN KNOTTS was FREE too! I was a little kid and you could go and ride the "drive by yourself antique cars" and the Merry-Go-Round just for the cost of a ticket. When the "hippies" started hanging out there in the late '60's they decided to charge an entrance feed to keep out the loiters.

Unknown said...

Charlie was so adorable. I love dogs. We had the best one when I was growing up named Sam. He totally made our lives better. My Mom still says he made her life worse...(something about fur and barking and stuff like that : ). I love your blog so much. I don't know why I never read the old posts before. I am going to read one more and then I must go make supper. At least I got to laugh a little and get out of this funk... Thanks for praying for me. When I think about my supervisor and how much she hates me, I just want to cry!