Man’s best friend – maybe. My apologies to all you cat lovers out there, but today is dedicated to the dog!
I couldn’t help laughing out loud when I saw a commercial – I think it was for Swiffer, the floor cleaner – that showed a dog lying on the couch with tracks of muddy feet leading to and on the beautiful couch. The owner patiently said, “Sometimes we forget to take our shoes off when we enter the house.”
We love our dogs and tolerate so much mischievous behavior because we love them so much.
Stormy, our black Portuguese Water Dog is no exception. It all started during the research of this breed which said he would be a tireless worker and a good swimmer. Not so fast, dog owner! At the time, I was doing a lot of jogging and would appreciate the company as well as be able to give this “tireless worker” the exercise he needed. Hah!! The first time we went out I was excited to run with my Stormy. We ran for barely a block; he looked up at me as if to say why are we doing this; he then found the shade of a tree and laid down. Thinking he might have just been having a bad day, we tried it again. No dice.
Oh well, at least he will get his exercise when we go to the Bark Park where there is a dock and ramps for the dogs to go in and out of the water after they enjoy a refreshing swim. Embarrassed and confused, I returned home with a bone-dry dog in the back seat. Undaunted, again I thought he was just having a bad day. How could a Portuguese W-A-T-E-R dog not enjoy if not crave the water? After several attempts, I threw Stormy in the water and had to literally rescue him from drowning. What in the world! Eventually, he got the hang of it but never luxuriated in it.
The big lesson here was: “do not judge a book by its cover; don’t stereotype; each individual is different whether it is a canine or a human.”
The boomerang continues: after Sunny, our rescued cockapoo died, we again went to the Oakland County Animal Shelter to get a companion for Stormy who was quite lost without a little brother. When they brought out Sparky to meet with Stormy, I was extremely disappointed. This eleven pound, white dog was pitiful after just having surgery for a cherry eye and wearing that protective lampshade like collar to protect him from any damage while healing. Again, judging a book by its cover, I told my dear wife, Joan, that Sparky was the ugliest dog that I had ever seen and that I did not know about bringing him home.
Joan is good at overlooking my pronouncements having heard them for over thirty-two years. Sparky has been a wonderful addition to our home. After time, his quirky looks grew to become cute. I truly did not have any expectations for him as I did for Stormy. Just as Stormy is who he is, so Sparky is who he is. We just had to get to know both of them. Black and white like Stormy and Sparky . . . hmm.
