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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| The thrill of victory |
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.
ReplyDeleteSo here's what you do, Linda -
DeleteWhen 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.
I grew up with both dogs and cats, and love them both. And a baby newf would be very hard to resist.
ReplyDeleteI love dogs, but could never own one of the slobbery breeds. That's one thing I cannot stand. I grew up with German Shepherds.
ReplyDeleteI'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
ReplyDeleteYes, we still miss our wonderful cats, who were as affectionate as any dog. Love the image of the Newfs in the parking lot.
DeleteI wonder how soon the cats will dominate the Newf's.
ReplyDeletei do love dogs and maybe someday we will venture to get one once again.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteThe 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.
ReplyDeleteCat person here, sharing life with a dog person. Yours is about the cutest thing ever, however!
ReplyDeleteI 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. :-)
ReplyDeleteYour 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