Ok, I don’t ‘do’ the dog park – far too many tail wagging, slobbering, barking and humping canines for me. Anyway, my Vet said it is off-limits because I can no longer get vaccines (because of my unstable immune system). However, worse case scenario, if I bit a person or another dog, since I did not have my Rabies Shot, I would be quarantined. So much for my Life of Riley. But forget-about-it, I do not bite and I’m not keen on Dog Parks anyway because well, you know, I am Superior.
It really doesn’t matter because I live by a huge park, with enormous trees, green grass for kids to romp on, a fenced in baseball diamond, tennis courts, and walking paths. You can stroll for miles. I am ashamed to say, once Momma took me there a few times and being brilliant and adventuresome, I soon knew the way by myself. When I was young and foolish it was one of the areas that I would do a ‘jack rabbit’ to, with Momma and Daddy in hot pursuit, trying to woo me with treats, coaxing me to come back and well, I always did, once I had my fill of running, just gasping for breath, my tongue hanging on the ground. I know, I know, I am lucky I lived to tell the tale. I could have ended the same fate as Zanny.
What a great place to wander around, sniffing the trees and grass, seeing all the teeny, tiny bugs that scoot around on the ground, the bees and butterflies hovering on the flower petals. In this Shangri-la, Momma & I meet up with many dogs from around the area and their owners. Some I make friendly with but mostly I just stop and give them my ‘get out of Jakitaville’ stare. It is not like I cut all dogs dead. There are a couple of Border Collies on our street. I like them, they like me, we greet by sniffing each others’ noses, there is no power struggle. However a Husky dog we meet often is kind of freaky – pale green eyes, plops down in front of me and stares straight through me. Her Momma can not move her. It is like she becomes a frozen statue. Then there is that little black dog, smaller than me, younger than me and meaner than me. I don’t get it, he was so sweet the first couple years of his life, then his Momma died and over night his personality changed . I mean, Daddy died and I did not turn in to a weirdo. Help him, quick, get the Dog Whisperer.
One day when we went for a walk in the park, Momma and I saw something so sad, I still have nightmares about it. It was in the winter, very cold, wind chill factor of maybe -30 degrees. Momma and I could not believe our eyes. Tied to a bench was a German Sheppard Dog, definitely a candidate for frost bite, probably hungry and so sad and dejected. We could not go near, Momma said, because the poor dog may attack us, from fear. Momma and I went right home and called the animal shelter and here is the amazing thing. Not only were we the sixth call about this abandoned dog, one of the callers volunteered to take him. Momma said that is the neighborhood we reside in, good souls surround us, looking out for those who cannot look out for themselves. Don’t you wish you lived here?
But still, I confess. I prefer the Two Footed any day over dogs. They feed us, walk us, play with us, love us. Sometimes our Masters need training to come around but still, would a Four Footed Dog be able to meet all of our demands, I ask you? Not likely! It doesn’t take a Rocket Scientist to figure this out!
Email: housekeeping@hotdogcoolcats.com
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