Things Work - Until the Day They Dont!

I live in a rural area with horse farms and corn fields and little stands that sell eggs and tomatoes. It is not uncommon to see dogs running loose … and not uncommon to see them on the side of road dead.

My neighbor has a Jack Russell (no, it is NOT a Parson - it is one of those short legged Jacks). For years, this little guy would “visit” my house and kennel and, much to his delight, torment my Poodle kids. For years, I have collected this dog from various points on my property and carried him down to my neighbor’s home and deposited him into her arms. For years, she has told me to stop bringing him home because he always comes back on his own. For years, I have tried to explain how her Jack was the equivalent of a schoolyard bully - and my Poodles were the nerdy, weak kids - but, nothing, nada, zip, would stop my neighbor from opening up her front door and letting little Jack out at his liberty.

About two months ago, however, he stopped coming around. I must admit, I didn’t really notice that I hadn’t brought Jack home for a while or that my Poodles hadn’t set up in a barking frenzy playing his fence fighting game. Actually, I hadn’t thought about him at all … until today. You see, today was the first warm-ish day we have had in a while and Jack, on a leash and accompanied by his family, came to see me.

Jack now has three legs. Seems he was hit by a car not one, not two, but three streets over. (Remember how I said that I live in a rural area? That is over 2 miles away from home!) The car that hit him had not stopped , assuming that he was dead. A local vet tech found him, bleeding and unconscious. It took three days for the veterinary clinic to find Jack’s owners as he had no ID. (Actually, it was the County Animal Control officer who first identified Jack - seems she had brought him home as many times as I had! - and just happened to be at the clinic with her own dog!)

Jack’s owner said that she had to stop in to apologize to me. She said she hadn’t realized that Jack was such a problem “being that we lived in the country and all.” She was still in disbelief that he had gotten hit by a car because she had let him out loose for so long. I could only say to her the same thing I say to everyone when they are putting their dog at risk in any situation. You can do something stupid a million times and stupid things may work … until the day they don’t.

Marley and Mary and Me

I read “Marley and Me” ages ago - in fact, the book hadn’t even hit the bestseller list yet . I remember thinking that it was a sweet story about people who loved their dog. I also have to admit that I didn’t give it too much thought after that … until now, that is.

The ‘net is abuzz with Marley - or perhaps I should say that the message boards, blogs and dog-centric websites are. Calling the movie everything from a tragedy that glorifies bad pet ownership to a teaching tool, dog people are lambasting, bashing, and bad-mouthing the movie as a testament to all the is wrong with what they consider “bad” dog owners. Thinking that I must have had a lapse in my cognitive skills when reading the book (or maybe it was just an very extended senior moment!), I had to go see this movie. How could I have completely missed the fact that Marley’s owners were such lousy people?

Given all I had read and feeling that, given the vehemence of the reviews, I maybe was really missing the boat, I decided that I had better not go this task alone. I enlisted Mary to come with me. As a great dog person and owner of two wonderful Pugs (Hi Graham! Hi Quinn!), I felt sure that she, being a no nonsense type person, would catch what I may have missed.

We went to the matinee of “Marley and Me” yesterday and sat through the entire thing. We laughed at puppy antics. We agreed that the “dog trainer” was an ass. We counted how many different “Marleys” were used to film it (we got to 8 adults). We got misty-eyed at the end. No where, not once, did either of us see lousy people - what we did see was “Joe Average” dog owner who doesn’t participate in message boards, read dog related blogs (even mine!) and have probably never heard of dogster.com or itchmo.com or even infodog (which is my most visited website).

The fact of the matter is that most of the dogs out there are Marleys and jump on people and run away and eat whatever happens to be on sale supplemented from what they get out of the trash can - and their owners love them like crazy just the same.

You know something? That is the wonderful thing about dogs - they don’t care that their owners aren’t perfect and they certainly don’t care if they do a straight sit or can hold a long down. They don’t even care if their food is off the bargain rack or leftovers from the kid’s plates. They just want to be a part of the family - and Marley was ... and in abundance.

I have to wonder, what's so lousy about that?

(and to all you nay-sayers, I have one thing to add - Let he who is without chewed sneaker cast the first stone...)

New Year's Resolutions

As anyone on the east coast will tell you, New Year's day was what could only be described as blustery and COLD!. I now know what "wind chill" means, frst hand! Because it was too cold to do anything other than stay inside, I spent the afternoon phoning friends that I didn't get a chance to see over the holidays. It was a good way to brighten up a dreary day.

Invariably, the subject of New Year's resolutions came up. Dex vowed to be more organized. Dee is going to quit smoking. Cathy is going to have more fun (when I asked how she would accomplish that, she answered in true dog person fashion. "I am going to do more dog shows!") Barbara is going to finish the CDX title on her Argentine Dogo if it kills her (I don't know if she was referring to herself or the dog - I didn't want to ask!) and Laura is definitely, positively, without a doubt going to get her husband involved in kennel work. (They have been married 20 years! I didn't want to tell her that this may be one of those resolutions that disappear by January 15th!)

Randy wants to find a new job - did I know of any (and, no, NOT dog related!)? Cindy wants to spend more time with her friends (although her husband, Chip, may have something to say about that!) and Jen, the best veterinarian in South Jersey, to make more time for herself and her kids.

All this talk about resolutions got me thinking. What did I resolve to accomplish is 2009? I am already pretty organized. I am not ready to quit smoking. My job has me at dog shows almost every weekend and I LOVE doing my kennel work (work? What work?)

I already have the the best job in the world, and, because dog people hang with dog people at doggy events, I see my friends all the time. And make more time for myself? What does THAT mean? So ... what DID I want to accomplish in 2009?

My late friend, Sharon (lost to cancer almost five years ago) had a sign on her kennel door that I now keep in my kitchen. It is a quote written by a man named Ben Williams, a wonderful dog trainer. I doubt if he will mind if I use what he has written as my 2009 New Year's resolution...

"My goal is life is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am."

Happy New Year, Everyone!