Being a dog owner...
...does not make one a Dog Person.
Almost a month ago, the Smelmooo and I got a puppy, Tucker. Smelmooo's family has always had dogs (they currently have two), whereas I hadn't had a dog since Fluffy (yep) left us when I was three years old (the only ticket my lovely mom ever got was on her way home from having Fluffy put to sleep...so sad...). I really wanted a dog when I was younger, but after the trauma of Fluffy's death and a quickly emptying nest, my parents never caved on that. So except for the in-laws' dogs (and my brother's two dogs, whom I see about twice a year), I've been a Dog Person mostly in the sense of "I'll pet a cute, friendly one if I know it" and "I am the complete antithesis of a cat person."
And that hasn't really changed since we've gotten Tucker. I love him; I like the relatives' dogs; I acknowledge that a particular dog in a commercial or something is cute. That's about it. But now, since I'm, you know, a dog owner, people assume I'm totally a Dog Person (or, more startlingly, an Animal Person). And I'm just...not.
This morning, I was in the yard with Tucker, and another woman was about 20 yards past our house, on the sidewalk, walking her little dog.
I should point out that we've had our house for almost a year. We love our town, and we often take walks into the downtown area or just around our immediate neighborhood. We're out in the garden on the weekends; sometimes, we even play catch on the front lawn. We go to the YMCA on our street (okay, Smelmooo goes much more than I do); I took a Spanish class at the high school; Smelmooo is involved with the town Democrats. We're relatively friendly people (okay, Smelmooo is much friendlier than I am, but still, taken as a couple, we're of at least average friendliness).
And yet, until about a month ago, we basically knew the neighbors on either side of us, and that was it.
But, as it turns out, when you have a dog, people talk to you. Constantly. We've met about a million new people during the last month, and the neighbors we already knew suddenly like us much better. Having a dog buys you street cred.
Anyway, this woman this morning spotted Tucker and me in the yard, turned around and called, "Do you have a new little puppy?!" and came on over. The owner -- whose name I do not know, but her dog is Max -- asked Tucker's name and age, what we do with him during the day while we're at work, etc.
And as she's doing this, she's down on the ground, hanging on to her dog while petting Tucker vigorously, interjecting little "Good dog! Such a cute puppy!" into our discussion. And I'm like, crap, I oughta be down there petting HER dog, but it's totally not in my nature just to start playing with a stranger's dog. I'm sure some of this is bound up on a subconscious level with my germ issues, but I think that the key point I uncovered is that I'm simply not, and likely never will be, a Dog Person. I hope I can at least get better at faking it, though, because I feel like Tucker will suffer if I'm not sufficiently indulgent of his potential friends in the neighborhood.
Almost a month ago, the Smelmooo and I got a puppy, Tucker. Smelmooo's family has always had dogs (they currently have two), whereas I hadn't had a dog since Fluffy (yep) left us when I was three years old (the only ticket my lovely mom ever got was on her way home from having Fluffy put to sleep...so sad...). I really wanted a dog when I was younger, but after the trauma of Fluffy's death and a quickly emptying nest, my parents never caved on that. So except for the in-laws' dogs (and my brother's two dogs, whom I see about twice a year), I've been a Dog Person mostly in the sense of "I'll pet a cute, friendly one if I know it" and "I am the complete antithesis of a cat person."
And that hasn't really changed since we've gotten Tucker. I love him; I like the relatives' dogs; I acknowledge that a particular dog in a commercial or something is cute. That's about it. But now, since I'm, you know, a dog owner, people assume I'm totally a Dog Person (or, more startlingly, an Animal Person). And I'm just...not.
This morning, I was in the yard with Tucker, and another woman was about 20 yards past our house, on the sidewalk, walking her little dog.
I should point out that we've had our house for almost a year. We love our town, and we often take walks into the downtown area or just around our immediate neighborhood. We're out in the garden on the weekends; sometimes, we even play catch on the front lawn. We go to the YMCA on our street (okay, Smelmooo goes much more than I do); I took a Spanish class at the high school; Smelmooo is involved with the town Democrats. We're relatively friendly people (okay, Smelmooo is much friendlier than I am, but still, taken as a couple, we're of at least average friendliness).
And yet, until about a month ago, we basically knew the neighbors on either side of us, and that was it.
But, as it turns out, when you have a dog, people talk to you. Constantly. We've met about a million new people during the last month, and the neighbors we already knew suddenly like us much better. Having a dog buys you street cred.
Anyway, this woman this morning spotted Tucker and me in the yard, turned around and called, "Do you have a new little puppy?!" and came on over. The owner -- whose name I do not know, but her dog is Max -- asked Tucker's name and age, what we do with him during the day while we're at work, etc.
And as she's doing this, she's down on the ground, hanging on to her dog while petting Tucker vigorously, interjecting little "Good dog! Such a cute puppy!" into our discussion. And I'm like, crap, I oughta be down there petting HER dog, but it's totally not in my nature just to start playing with a stranger's dog. I'm sure some of this is bound up on a subconscious level with my germ issues, but I think that the key point I uncovered is that I'm simply not, and likely never will be, a Dog Person. I hope I can at least get better at faking it, though, because I feel like Tucker will suffer if I'm not sufficiently indulgent of his potential friends in the neighborhood.
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