Thursday, December 1, 2016

From cats to dogs





 Never mind that the Chinese calendar says this is the Year of the Monkey.

At our house, it’s the year of the dog. After 40 something years of cat ownership, we’ve gone to the other side. Don’t get me wrong, My Guy and I still send each other cat videos, but for the sake of travel convenience we adopted a dog in September.
Mamie the wonder dog
        

       To our family – son with a cat, daughter with two – this is as foreign as if the parents had suddenly decided to take up Esperanto. On the plus side, Mamie is the least dog-like canine I’ve ever met.
      Her main focus in life is to sit next to me. She doesn’t play tug of war, chase squirrels, or gallop up to strangers. Although they were fascinated with her, I’m sure she was a deep disappointment to the three grandboys when they visited for Thanksgiving. 

          We continued the dog theme by bringing everyone to a local dog show. 

It was a learning experience for young and old alike. My daughter and I noticed that there is a definite wardrobe consistency for the women dog handlers – knee length skirts, flats, stockings. At first we wondered if the purpose was to highlight the dogs, but then the men wear slacks, so why not the women? No, it was a dog world thing. Kind of the way you can often tell someone is a teacher. We all get to look alike after a while. 

Note the anti-drool bibs



         We also noticed that the handlers often had dog combs stuck in their own hair and possessed the ability to pull a dog treat from unexpected places. And handlers of the slobbery category always had an absorbent cloth on the ready peeking out from their waistbands. 
Tired Newf or rug?










      

    Some of the owners were very friendly and happily stopped to chat with us and let us pat their dogs. We saw dachshunds and Dobermans, Pomeranians and poodles, but the Newfoundlands carried the day.



      There was a huge (in every sense of the word) contingent of Newfs there, not to mention a puppy of 12 weeks that was a ridiculously fuzzy black ball of cute.

 We all had a terrific time but we may not have done our daughter any favors. Both our son-in-law and the boys went home with anticipatory smiles and discussions of where their future Newf might sleep.  
 
The thrill of victory

         

13 comments:

  1. Oh this is so wonderful. I want another dog so much but my family thinks that's a bad idea because of having to walk it during the winter in Oregon. Your Mamie is precious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So here's what you do, Linda -
      When we adopted Mamie, we didn't realize at first that she's "pee pad trained", which apparently is a new phenomenon. People who live in high rises, or bad neighborhoods, or . . . Oregon, get small dogs and train them to use pee pads indoors. And it's no ickier than a cat with a litter box.
      I walk Mamie twice a day, but if we're late getting home I know that she'll be fine with her pad.

      Delete
  2. I grew up with both dogs and cats, and love them both. And a baby newf would be very hard to resist.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love dogs, but could never own one of the slobbery breeds. That's one thing I cannot stand. I grew up with German Shepherds.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've never been to a dog show before. I have watched a couple on tv and noticed the same "uniform" that the handlers wear. For us, it's cats. They are easy to leave over a weekend, if necessary and don't require walking, however they can also come with their own list of problems. When I was little, there was a little general store that my parents stopped at for gas and to pick up odds and ends. The owners had two Newfoundlands that everyone knew. They would sleep in the parking area and everyone just knew to drive around them. -Jenn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we still miss our wonderful cats, who were as affectionate as any dog. Love the image of the Newfs in the parking lot.

      Delete
  5. I wonder how soon the cats will dominate the Newf's.

    ReplyDelete
  6. i do love dogs and maybe someday we will venture to get one once again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love that last photo. That's really all any dog wants -- food and a comfy place to sleep! I've never done a dog show either. I've owned many dogs, but they tend to be adopted mongrels.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Newfoundland dogs are massive. I had friends that showed their Landseers (the multi colored ones). You have to learn to live happily with slobber as an owner.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cat person here, sharing life with a dog person. Yours is about the cutest thing ever, however!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love both cats and dogs. They are so different from each other! If I had to choose, though, it would be cats, since they are so self sufficient. Love dogs, though. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your Mamie is really cute! Newfs are huge, we had friends that had one they bought a full size bed to put on their porch for a place the dog could sleep. We are dog people too. we have had cats but we both like a dog better:)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear what you think.