Not a dog person June 1, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in older son, pets.Tags: conformation, Gigadog, newfoundlands, pets
trackback
We had a couple dogs when I was growing up, but I was never really impressed with the idea of having one as a pet myself. They always seemed like so much work compared to cats. Of course, now that I’ve owned almost a dozen cats, I know that’s not necessarily true. I also realize now that you can train dogs, something which cats aren’t very willing or able to do, and that makes a huge difference when it comes to interacting with them.
Still, a lot of people were surprised when I got a Newfoundland because not only is it a dog, but it’s a DOG. Newfs tend to have some of the worst qualities of dogs: big, clumsy, fur everywhere…and, OMG, the slobber. It almost never stops.
But here’s the thing: I still don’t think of myself as a dog person. I actually find a lot of dogs annoying. They’re cute when you pet them (if they’ll let you), but definitely not something I’d want to take home.
I do consider myself a Newf person, though. When my older boy was a baby, his grandparents had a Newf that would let my son crawl all over him. The worst he’d do is give a big sigh and look at me with those big, brown eyes, as if to say, “As long as he’s happy, I’ll deal.” Of course, this was several years after our first, and rather terrifying (from my perspective), meeting where he jumped up, put his paws on my shoulder, and introduced himself by giving me a big, slobbery kiss. That dog was the first dog I really became bonded to, and after that, I decided that if I were to ever have a dog of my own, it would have to be a Newf.
I find this all terribly amusing because today, as a non-dog person, I will be attending and showing my dog in a conformation event. I never intended to show dogs, but after all the comments on how Gigadog was such a pretty dog (not only from random strangers on the street but people who work quite regularly with dogs), I took her to her breeder to have her evaluated as a show dog. My breeder thinks she’ll have a good shot at getting a title.
I just hope we don’t have a repeat of our CGC experience…and that the judges don’t dock for slobber. On the up side, I have another place I can wear some of my formal business attire given I can’t really wear it to work.
I also blog at Engineer Blogs, home away from home to some of the best engineering blogs.
So…you own a dog…you’ve made the investment of time and money to train your dog (with mixed results, as you’ve related in past posts), you are now planning to show your dog…and you’re not a dog person?
Sorry. I’m not buying it for a nanosecond :-). You are now officially a dog person, whether you like it or not.
For what little consolation it’s worth, our dog (“our” meaning my wife and I) has been to obedience school and is still a bit dodgy about following commands. She (a Golden Retriever named Joey) still has one bad habit we have to watch out for: if she isn’t on her leash before heading out the door, she will take off and run like an Olympic sprinter, even though she’s 11-12 years old and has one bad eye (from a cataract). One of us then has to get in the car and cruise the neighborhood calling her name until she hears the sound of the car engine and comes running up.
By now, you’re probably wondering, “Who the heck is this who’s leaving this comment?” I used to have a LiveJournal blog under the name “mybadattitudes”. We only met once, at HuHot, along with my wife, your husband and kids, and our mutual friend LeAnn. I dropped the blog simply because I was running out of things to say on it.
Hope you’ve been doing well. Maybe one day we’ll have to introduce Joey and Gigadog to one another…and then the fun will really begin :-D.
Peace.
Doug L.
Hi, Doug!
It’s good to hear from you! I was wondering where you went after your LJ shut down. (I still post over there very occasionally.)
Gigadog has been through *six* obedience classes. We’ve done about 3 levels, and she has done every class twice. And we’re still dodgy, too. I have found, however, that I keep a bag of Pupperoni handy for any run-offs. If she takes off, I take the bag outside, call her name and shake it. She apparently loves the stuff so much that it’s more enticing than getting into the neighbors yard to play with their dog.