Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Going to the Dogs

One of the side effects of the birth of our new grandchild is that we are now dogsitting for one of our daughter's very large dogs (our "granddog," if I can coin the term).

Yasmin and Vin have two dogs: Pip (a mix of black labrador and ... something ... rottweiler, pit bull, whatever) and Nessa (a chocolate labrador that thinks she's an enormous puppy). While they get Leya into a routine at home, they've farmed out the dogs to the grandparents. Vin's parents have Nessa, and we've taken Pip. I think we got the better end of the deal.

Pip is an elderly, overweight, gentle dog the size of a shetland pony. Yasmin adopted her many years ago when she was working as a veterinary technician at a local animal hospital...Pip was part of an abandoned litter of puppies, and no one wanted to take a chance on a dog with such a questionable mix of parents. Rather than let her be put down, Yasmin brought her home. As it turned out, the lab side of Pip's nature is dominant, and she's a gentle, loyal, and friendly - if very large - dog. She's a joy to have around, except for those times (like last night) when she needs to go for that necessary walk in a driving rainstorm. Labs are water dogs, so getting soaked to the skin doesn't particularly bother them...unlike those of us who didn't read the fine print in the marriage license closely enough to find out that they (not their wives) are responsible for walking dogs in the rain.


But anyway, we've gone to the dogs for the next few weeks. Rain notwithstanding, I love having Pip around. If you've never had a dog, you can't really understand the bond that forms between humans and canines, and the unconditional love and companionship a dog will give you. Many people have commented on the relationship between humans and dogs, but one of the best is this one:

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." - Ben Williams

I'd write more, but it's time to take that morning constitutional with my four-legged main squeeze.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

4 comments:

Amanda said...

I haven't had a dog yet but I will when we settle down to a home of our own somewhere. Really like that quote from Ben Williams.

I'll tell my parents that they'll need to make room for a granddog someday.

Unknown said...

I used to have a do before I was married and when he died I was devastated and vowed never to keep one again. Then I had 9 cats - so now I'm a complete cat person But I remember how Remus [a black German Shepherd] loved me and how sometimes it was like he was almost human in his understanding. I still miss him a lot

noisms said...

Congratulations on coining the word 'granddog'. I think there's definitely room in the Oxford English Dictionary for it.

Jean-Luc Picard said...

Pip looks like he's got a lot of energy to use up.