January 17, 2005 - Dog's Best Friend

Dogs are the noblest of creatures. That has always been my belief. The Bhutanese believe that dogs should be respected because they are next in line to be reincarnated as humans. I think the Bhutanese may have gotten the order backwards.
I was lucky enough to have a dog as a friend when I was a child. He was loyal, gentle, caring, protective, and patient. I did everything to prove that I did NOT deserve any of that. In the ignorance of my childhood, I took all of that for granted, appreciating these virtues only when it was too late. That was a long time ago.

Fred is a dog who just doesn’t understand how big he really is. He tips the scales at way over 100 pounds of Rottweiler but still tries to squeeze under small tables. Invariably, the lower half of him is left sticking out in plain sight. Fred possess all of the virtues that I described above…he is the textbook dog.

For this past long weekend, his human friend (and good friend of mine), Matt, hit the road for a vacation involving boards and snow. I had the good fortune of being charged with the duty of looking after Fred. It was, perhaps, a test-run for me to see if I have grown enough to take on the responsibility of caring for another dog. Despite Fred’s enormous size, he is so well-behaved that this would be a test under the best-case scenario. We took walks around my townhouse complex, visiting with the other neighborhood dogs and finding places to pee as well as poo. I learned the skill of the plastic bag poo grab and the ice on the ground helped to solidify that which I was grabbing. The best-case scenario didn’t hold up and we got hit with some of the worst weather in a while. Sleet falls sideways and we suffer. Though with Fred, it was always still a fun outing.

On the last day of my adventure with Fred, I came to the sad conclusion that life has not reached the level of stability that would allow me the privilege of having a dog. I left for work at 7 am. Before that, Fred and I took a quick walk to allow him to do his business. It was over ten hours later when I reached home again. Throughout the day, I was plagued with the horrible image of Fred’s bladder stretching. I’m familiar with the excruciating discomfort of “having to hold it”. I think there are very few legitimate reasons to speed on the roads but anything related to the bladder would count in my book. I rushed home to find Fred wagging the stumpy remains of his tail, happy to see me, but desperate to get outside. I grabbed his leash and we headed for the grass where I experienced an incredible display of bladder capacity. Fred had held it for the entire day. I saw it as yet another sign of the humility of dogs…Fred refrained from that horrible inclination to relieve himself all day because he knew that that would disappoint me. I, on the other hand, let him down for leaving him to suffer like that. Once again, I was undeserving.

Perhaps one day, I’ll have a job that will let me work from home (or at least shorter hours). Perhaps one day, I’ll have a job where I can constantly be at the side of a dog. Perhaps one day, I’ll have a home where a dog can run about freely. Perhaps one day, I’ll meet someone who can be a partner in life (she’d have to like dogs, of course), including helping to give a dog the attention deserved. Perhaps, I’ll keep on hoping…