Dogs are in everyone's lives. But this isn't about
animal behavior.
DOGS AND GROWING UP
In Portnoy's Complaint, Philip Roth comments that Jews didn't have dogs for pets—the idea of animals living in their homes was outlandish to them.
I'm Jewish. After I left home for college, my parents got a dog.
My son (he has a wife and two children) has three dogs (or is it four—I lose track of the Chihuahuas). My daughters have no pets.
My ex-wife grew up with dogs, but in their rural home the dog lived outside under the porch.
DOGS AND FAMILIES
My wife and I eventually got a dog—for the kids?
We were the ones who usually ended up walking Bruno.
As we were getting divorced, Bruno developed an intestinal cancer, and had to be put to sleep.
It was expensive, but people—we—never considered expense.
My wife and daughters held Bruno as he was put to sleep. I stayed outside.
I spoke to a woman I met through a computer site on the phone—she was pictured there with her dog. We got along well.
She invited me over for brunch, but called me back to say I could only stay an hour—that was all the time her dog-sitter could spare, and her dog would yelp at me the whole time I was there.
I declined her offer.
My current girlfriend—who, like me, comes from a Jewish background—doesn't have a dog.
DOGS AND LARRY
One summer, I studied Japanese at Stanford (don't ask).
In the Japanese class, I met and became good friends with Larry, who was from Idaho.
Last night, after a long hiatus, I spoke with Larry—it was as though we had never been out of touch.
Larry lives in the foothills of Idaho in a house he built himself on 26 acres—with two dogs. They are his constant—his primary—companions.
We planned on my visiting—perhaps with my girlfriend.
DOGS AND PARK SLOPE
In the residential part of Brooklyn where I live, the cafes have signs, "no dogs allowed."
As I sat outside of one cafe today, I stared at a sign attached to a new tree—"PLEASE LET THIS TREE LIVE—KEEP DOGS AWAY!"
A woman entered the cafe, and left her dog tied to a railing outside. The dog sniffed at me and my croissant the entire time she was inside. This happens to me regularly.
Once, in another cafe, a man went inside, and left his dog tied outside for a long time. A woman walking by angrily observed the dog and questioned me and my family about whose dog it was.
My grandson was playing with the dog, and tripped over his leash, falling on the dog. The woman hollered at him and he retreated sobbing to his mother's lap.
DOGS AND HUMANS
Dogs have been associated with humans for thousands (tens of thousands?) of years.
Lately, this association has become closer.
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