I love dogs.
We have a dog. A delightfully affectionate, energetic, nutty Jack Russell called Ripley who barks and occasionally bares her teeth into the hearts of everyone who makes her acquaintance. She is all heart. And some.
We have a dog. A delightfully affectionate, energetic, nutty Jack Russell called Ripley who barks and occasionally bares her teeth into the hearts of everyone who makes her acquaintance. She is all heart. And some.
Do I believe she is "divine?" Well... yes, in the way that we are all divine. In that sense I believe all creatures are equal. For this reason, I am never quite sure how to describe her. She is not a "pet." I don’t like that terminology. She is another little being who shares out
lives. And we love her. In France they call pets companion animals – which is sweet, but not
quite right either. She is our friend. We are doggy people, in that we share our lives with a
dog. And I recognise that some people are not doggy people. I think I was probably
one of the Not doggy people at one point
but I have since discovered that I had closed my heart and mind to one of the
greatest joys of being a human being, and that is sharing your life and heart with a
dog! there is no doubt, and much research backs this up, that dogs and humans have a very special relationship.
Because I have just been abroad, I have been thinking about Britain, and how we are supposed to be a nation of dog lovers. But it strikes me that for such a nation, we don't actually like dogs very much!
Before I was a doggy person, I never really
questioned the “no dogs” policy of shops, restaurants and various other
facilities, but having accepted a dog into my heart and my family, I notice that my little friend is unwelcome in
many public places, and as far as I am concerned, that makes me unwelcome too.
We've just returned from a holiday in Europe – France, Italy
and Switzerland- and in France especially I was struck by how
perfectly normal it is to see animals in restaurants and shops. We saw many
dogs sitting quietly at their owners’ feet whilst they were out for their
evening meals, sitting on laps at cafe tables, playing with other dogs in the
middle of a crowded bar, I realised that not only is it considered perfectly
normal to take your dog out with you, it is actually considered strange that
you would not take your dog out with you.
We stayed in one place that had a cat actually on the bar! This
was where it sat. Nobody shooed it away because nobody thought anything of it.
Oh but the germs!
We could go into an in-depth microbiological analysis
of the pathogens associated with domestic cats and dogs - and our unhealthy obsession with ineffectually attempting to decontaminate every surface we touch - but I bet you that
compared to the unwashed hands of the bar’s clientele (and lets face it –
staff) and the damp cloths they use to wipe the bar and tables, the cat posed
very little hazard. It was cute and it
made people smile.
And, really, what harm does it do? I suppose people would
argue that animals are dirty and therefore inappropriate in a place where food is served. Yes, I kind
of get that, but considering that most dogs sit on the floor, and our shoes are
on the floor, and our shoes (that have been walking outside on the dirty
pavements) are welcome in the restaurant
on our feet, what’s the problem? People
are welcome in restaurants and, judging
by the hundreds of people I have witnessed leaving public toilets without washing
their hands, we are just as "dirty" as a species as dogs are. And we don’t have to sit on the
floor!
There is also the issue of dogs not being welcome in hotels, B&Bs, self-catering cottages etc. SO
may places don’t accept dogs and I have never understood this. We run a self
catering business and the only real issue with dogs is the amount of hair we
have to hoover up. I remember filling the hoover twice after one doggie guest
and declaring at the time that it looked liked somebody had shaved a bear! Other than that, we generally
have to do significantly more cleaning after children! MUCH much more!
In many ways the divinity of dogs is true to me. If I was creating a fiction, I would say the dogs were "sent" to help us learn how to be better people. There is a well known saying (I'm paraphrasing) " I want to be the person my dog thinks I am." Dogs are completely and wholeheartedly unconditional and love us no matter what demons we are able to conjur in our own regard of ourselves. Dogs have a lot to teach us. To open your heart to a dog, is to open your heart to who you really are.
Addition - 25/11/13
I recently came The dog presciption. Perfect. Everyone should be prescribed a dog!
Addition - 25/11/13
I recently came The dog presciption. Perfect. Everyone should be prescribed a dog!
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