Chagal4's Blog

There’s an old dog on the corner that’s dying of something or other and she can’t get around much anymore. I don’t know whether to nod my sympathy at the old dog or at my friends who are already hearing doggie dirges in the distance. Years ago Elvis recorded a song that melted the speakers on our trusty RCA Victor (can you remember their logo?). It was called “Old Shep” and my old man cried when he heard it. Sentimental days back then…and the bond between a man/woman/boy/girl and their dog was a special thing. It still is of course, even though the incredible explosion of puppy mills dealing in mini dogs and Chihuahuas, and Pekinese and tiny hairless creatures resembling long legged rodents makes us seniors dubious. No matter how much you love the little buggers, dogs ain’t jewelry. They shouldn’t be stuffed in your cleavage while you order colourful drinks at your favourite club. But I digress…there are many types of dog/person relationship and they range from lifelong companion to loyal guardian to working partner to drug sniffing narc and eyes for the blind. The proliferation of urban dogs has me wondering about our society though. I don’t mean those feral, lean, mean and wary beasts that have a third world gleam in their eyes…You see them all over the world…those dogs. You want to think that they belong to somebody but you’re afraid that they don’t…and you get sort of uncomfortable when there’s more than one of them and they’re watching you. No…I mean the ones that are walked daily on brightly coloured, spring loaded, leashes, sometimes wearing lovely little plaid coats through the neighbourhood…on their way to the “Dog Park”…I figure those parks should be named after famous dogs…like Rin Tin Tin park or Lassie park. There were dogs that did heroic deeds in war…and in the frozen north. come on, name some dog parks after those guys. So these dogs and their people go off daily to the park to socialize and catch up on the latest canine news. It must be frustrating too because the male dogs are checking out the chick dogs and those upright citizens holding the leashes are not about to allow any  doggie sex around here. I see them every day and I think something deep and dynamic is going on here. People are spending more and more time on-line and in interpersonal situations that are non-social (like work) so I’m thinking people are becoming un-socialized. They want a meaningful relationship but the opportunities are limited and if you read the papers and watch T.V. you have to wonder…who can you trust? And getting a dog starts to look like a very viable option.  Incredibly they discover a very meaningful relationship…after all…they follow their dog with a little plastic bag…and also discover other dog people and have meaningful relationships with them too. That’s what city people call a “win-win” proposition. And everything is fine on all of those levels for years…until one day the dog gets sick…not that “Oh My God look at the mess”…type of sick. Nope …the sick that has big sad eyes and no energy…that can’t get off the blanket/box and wheezes ominously. If that sick had a voice it would whisper and what it said would break your heart. The real love between a dog and its person sneaks up on both sides…takes years to build and comes as a pleasant surprise until the day it comes as a sad and awful one. I don’t have much patience with people who say “Oh, it’s only a dog…” because it isn’t. It’s about the relationship of people to their world…and the dog that keeps them connected to the fullness of their lives. There’s a lot of dogs that I don’t much like…not their fault. There are a lot of people I don’t like either. In the end I guess I have more respect for the dogs I don’t like than the people I don’t like. As for the dog on the corner…she’s gone now…(I heard the other day) and my sympathy goes to her and to her people. Dogs don’t live as long as people…and that’s a sad fact because some dogs are better than a lot of people.