"Don't touch him!" I yell at a group of friendly strangers. Every time I take my tiny poodle for a walk, well-meaning people come over and reach their fingers toward him and say "What a sweet little - OH GOODNESS SORRY!" Do not reach your fingers toward my dog.
My dog barks at everyone. This morning when a little old man teetered past our front lawn, my dog barked so loudly I glanced out to make sure his cane wasn't a machine gun.
But, for all that barking at sweet old men, my dog never bites. Or when he does, he has what my family calls "a soft bite." The best definition of a this is that one time he picked up our pet parakeet in his mouth. He just held her there as though his teeth were arms and he was rocking her, and when he set her down she flew back up to her cage, completely unharmed, while the entire family screamed in terror.
And last night while we were walking my dog picked up a huge gray frog in his mouth, and before I could do whatever a responsible pet owner would do at that point, he spit it back out on the ground, gave it a respectful nod, and turned to walk home.
Two conclusions:
The more time I spend with animals, the less I understand about animals.
If my dog ever licks my face I will either throw up or turn into a princess. I think that's how that works.
My parents' cat, Spot, does the same "soft bite" thing where he'll put his teeth on something without actually chomping.
ReplyDeleteI've just accepted that as much as I love petting critters, I absolutely don't understand anything about the furry, four-legged beasts of the world.
Love that I found your blog, lady!