Dogs

I'm in a bookstore the other day when a guy walks in with a big dog on a leash.  No, it's not a lead-in to a joke.  (I'm not sure where you'd go with that. . .and I don't think I want to know.)  It's true!  Being more absorbed in my quest for books, I didn't get a good look at the dog; I just know it was tall.  He didn't bark or shove his nose anywhere he shouldn't, nor did he nervously pant.  He was, as his owner said, a very good dog.

My point?  I have to have a point to this?  Okay, I do have one.  Why was a guy bringing a dog into a bookstore?  He most likely had been to the nearby PetSmart, where, of course, you can bring your pets with you.  (I've never tried to bring one of my cats and never will.  I value my skin too much.)  But why not take the dog back to the car?  I'd have thought maybe he walked to the store, but I doubt it.  The area is not conducive to foot traffic.

Well, I never did find out why the dog came in with the guy.  (Btw, the guy headed right to the section with books on--you see it coming, don't you--dogs!)  But that little incident got me thinking.  And researching.

1.  From about 1950 until about five years ago, cats outnumbered dogs as pets two to one.  Now some of that was due to the size of the animal.  With a few exceptions, a cat doesn't get much bigger than 12 to 20 pounds.  But there are more than a few dogs who weigh more than an average human.  Mastiffs and St. Bernards for two.

2.  Cat popularity surged in the 70's and 80's with the bigger influx of women heading into the workplace, or more specifically, into jobs that were outside of the typical "9 to 5."  "Housewives" were becoming a rare breed and that left no one at home to care for Fido.

3.  The 1990's saw an increase in creative entrepreneurialism.  Services for the busy executive became very popular.  Everything from house-sitting to dog-walking.  My brother-in-law's younger brother had a "doggy day care" in downtown Chicago for a while.  With that, people realized they could work and have a dog.

I must point out here, that, although I classify myself as a "cat person,"  I have never disliked dogs (except for the ones that drool profusely.  My uncle had a St. Bernard and my family thought I was afraid of him.  I wasn't, the drooling disgusted me).  I grew up with several dogs, mostly German Shepherds.  I had a Beagle as a child whom I loved dearly.  But our dogs were never trained.  They trained us.  Scratching, whining and barking were all met with someone leaping up to see to the dog's needs (or wants).

Last summer, a friend of mine got their daughter a Puggle.  That's a Pug/Beagle hybrid.  Very cute.  Happily, little Abby the Pugle has been to puppy obedience school already.  I believe they have plans to further her education, too.  So a pleasant, well-trained dog is quite enjoyable to be around.  My cats may disagree, but that's neither here nor there.  (I have noticed more than a few people with cat-and-dog households say that either they get along fantastically, or the cat rules the roost.  I have to smile when my sister tells me that her cat will smack her dog on the nose.  Just to remind her who's in charge.)

Now I was leading up to something here.  Oh, yes.  With a well-trained dog, you can go almost anywhere.  In the city, you can find restaurants that will allow you to bring a dog in with you.  So why not a bookstore?  As long as the owner takes responsibility for any messes, why not take them with you wherever you go?  My only concern would be for small children who do not understand that ear-pulling hurts and a growl is a warning of worse to come.  But, if the dog has been properly trained, why not carry paperwork to that effect?  For dogs that are too big to be carried, have a simple certificate that allows the dog to travel with its person.  I mean, humans have to have an ID to go almost anywhere nowadays.

Doggy passports.  An idea whose time has come.