Entering the world of dogs and dog care has been an interesting experience of late. I love my solitary time walking dogs, watching them play, and attending to their needs, but there's a whole other world out there of people obsessed in strange and bizarre ways with their dogs.
I do not wish to enter this world for it is a world of dogs dressed up in weird costumes, dog-related websites adorned in frilly brick-a-brack and cartoon illustrations of puppies, and people who sell dog products that I could never imagine buying. I'd rather create a different world, a world where a dog is simply that -- a furry canine who wants to sniff the ground, chase a squirrel and lie at your feet while you pet him or her.
But in this other world, in the world I wish not to enter, there are people who buy sidecars for their motorcycles so the dog can ride along. They adorn said dogs with "doggles" and leather jackets and helmets. Others write long posts detailing every movement (and I mean every movement) their dog makes in the day. Some even set up webcams so anyone who dials in can watch their dog take a nap, eat their dinner, roll over for treats.
Whatever happened to the dog as companion? When did dog become toy for human folly?
So, while I have a dogwalking business and a corresponding website, while my dog Rubin writes of his days adventure, I hereby promise never to enter the world of dressed up dogs who live in their own designer rooms or who eat at the family table or are groomed to look like Ninja's.
I shall remake this doggie world, one dog at a time. I will return to the natural order of things where dogs and humans can join not in the human world, but in their shared animal ancestry.
(Of course, I just got done giving Rubin a massage so perhaps I have one foot in said "other world!")
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