Is it me?

I am not sure what is going on recently. It seems since I had to let Spot go, I have noticed more and more people complaining about their dogs.

On Wednesday (THE DAY AFTER) a "friend" of mine launched into a half an hour tirade about coming home to her dog who had diarrhea in her crate and then threw up. She ranted on and on about how mad she was at the poor dog. I was steaming. I mean come on. First, it's not the dogs fault. Next, I would have been thrilled to be cleaning up Spots' poop at that moment. Lastly, she begged her sister for this dog. She was so proud of herself for saving said dog. Now the dog is a nuisance? Fuck off.

I seem to notice it everywhere. Outside on break it always seems like some one doesn't know what to do about "it" (which irks me as well. It's not and "it") And it all seems like such minute things to me. "The dog had an accident" or "The dog just wouldn't settle down last night". I understand that I do (as to most foster homes) have a much higher tolerance for poop, pee, jumping dogs, barking, whining, food on the walls, vomit, wrecked household items, tipped over garbage, missing and wrecked shoes, and dog hair covering e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. All of this is rewarded by wagging of tails, wiggles of butts, looks of adoration, cuddles, kisses, snuggles, and the deep doggy sigh they make when they are content and happy.

I guess what I am trying to say here is dogs have feelings (as do cats and pigs and cows and chickens, I think you get the point). The vast majority of dogs want to please their human companions, not piss them off. My "friends" dog didn't enjoy sitting in her shit all day any more than my "friend" enjoyed cleaning it up.

This all reminded me of a story that a rescue volunteer from Florida wrote. You can find the story here. This story makes me cry every single time I read it, but today really kicked me in the ass. It is written as if the dog was telling her story. There is a paragraph after the dog was in a shelter where she talks about her new home. The dog states: "I was so thrilled to have a family at last and so grateful that I just couldn’t help but jump on them all. At first they seemed to like it, but then they started to get mad at me. I also pooped in the house a few times. I had never been in a house before so I didn’t know that it wasn’t OK. "

I think that this is a huge statement. "I didn't know that it wasn't OK". I think that a lot of times people forget that dogs need to be taught things. Even adult dogs. If a dog has never lived in a house, of course s/he isn't going to know they can't relieve themselves there.

Sometimes I am floored at the way people talk about their animals. In so many ways people relegate them to "just a dog". Yet they expect them to have super-psychic powers. Dogs should automatically know where to relieve themselves. Did you just suddenly become potty-trained? I don't think so. Dogs know what they did wrong. Not if you don't teach them what is right. Dogs should know what the word "NO" means. Not so. They don't speak English any better than you speak dog. We have had dogs come into rescue who believe their name is "No, No".

I know of a family that keeps their dogs outside, yet insisted their dogs were like children to them. So you would let your kids stay outside all day?

This was kind of a long ranty post. I hope you enjoy.