Not a dog person June 1, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in older son, pets.Tags: conformation, Gigadog, newfoundlands, pets
2 comments
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.
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