Off leash during off hours, I was taking a run with the rest of the pack along the canal at Point Isabel when I spied two exultant mutts loping in the mud at the bottom of the channel at low tide. Oblivious to the muck and sinking two inches with every stride, Big Blonde Mutt and Petite Black Mutt were grinning from ear to ear as they cantered toward a flock of plovers.
They didn’t really care about catching the birds, of course. They just wanted to propel them into the air as a way of enhancing their own ecstatic jig.
Despite a chill in the air, it was spring in mid-winter, time to celebrate open space and the companionship of any and all species that cared to frolic in the unseasonable sun, on foot, paw, or wing.
Dogs get it — why we’re here and all that – and suddenly I got it, too. Beating out the rhythm in my Saucony Jogmasters, freshly launched plovers wheeling overhead, I panted down the trail enjoying the crisp air in my lungs, along with dozens of blissed out canines.
Remember Women Who Run with the Wolves? Well, I’m a man who jogs with the dogs.
Apparently, the folks on Madison Avenue think of people as some form of canine. How else can one explain the ad campaign for a company called Serenity that makes products for the incontinent. The slogan on the TV commercial says Serenity gives you “a leg up on bladder control.”
Maybe they’re just trying to expand their market by making normally continent viewers wet themselves with laughter.
And speaking of confusing dogs with people, did you hear the recent news from India? Somebody decided it would be fun to perform a public wedding of nine dog couples. The stunt was canceled after a number of complaints that it would be a form of cruelty to animals.
Hmm… If marriage is considered cruel for dogs, maybe we should think twice about inflicting such pain and suffering on humans. (Only joking, my pet.)
Guess what? Dogs have blogs. Check out http://dogblog.dogster.com, where you’ll find Lucy Lu, a Tibetan Terrier. Her nickname is “poo-poo head” and her favorite toys are “Mr. Froggy Frog and Moosie.” Reggie the Pug’s best trick is “a Greenie dance” and his motto is “Do-do-do do do, I’m happy…”
I suppose the dog blog is a harmless idea, but the postings I read brought to mind a New Yorker cartoon, in which one mutt says to another: “I used to have a blog, but I gave it up and went back to mindless, incessant barking.”
It’s February, and I’m thinking that if dogs can blog (about Mr. Froggy Frog), they ought to have their own online card-sending service. When they can’t be out frolicking with their sweeties in the dog park, they can send a heartfelt puppy “ciao” via the Internet.
And for Valentine’s Day, well, picture adorable animated dogs popping up on the computer screen, saying the most romantic things. Such as: “Lovers on leashes: it takes two to tangle!” or (from the x-rated section) “I’m stuck on you, at least until they squirt us with the hose!”
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