To The Dogs
My kids profess to be dog people. I am not. My rule is that nothing comes into my house that can’t–with proper training–clean up after itself.
Whenever I’m forced to repeat this rule (and with four girls who believe a dog or dogs would complement our house nicely, it’s a lot), my wife simply rolls her eyes. The unspoken message is that if I were to strictly enforce this cleanliness rule, I would not be welcome in my own home, nor, I suspect, would my offspring.
Regardless, I have stuck to my guns–even beating back the recent offensive launched by my younger brother who got his first child and a dog within a span of 24 hours, forever disproving the rumor that “everybody” in my family was allergic to dogs. I never did like that kid.
If I were to follow the footsteps of my brother, I imagine that I would enjoy taking daily walks with my dog. I’m sure I would also quickly become a connoisseur of the local dog parks and would take a keen interest in visiting places like Boise, Idaho, where they’re introducing a pilot program allowing dogs to roam, off-leash during designated morning and evening hours in specific parks (see “Free To Roam,” page 12).
And, because I enjoy turning everything into a competition (I typed this sentence in less than 4 seconds), I can envision setting up a dog-agility course like the one detailed on page 20 (see “Dog-Agility Course for Beginners”) in my backyard. It would have to replace my ice rink, batting cage and zip line, but if you’re going to train for the dog-agility course circuit, you have to make some sacrifices.
Of course, I wouldn’t be a beginner for long, which is a problem. The quick road to dog-agility course fame and fortune would take me away from my family and, ultimately, leave me living alone in a mansion on the coast of California with nothing but a big bank account to keep me company.
So, that’s reason number three why my family can’t have a dog. We can’t handle the fame.
Really, it’s too bad. I was starting to warm up to the idea.
Till next month…
Rodney J. Auth
Publisher
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