People Are Dogs Too

Artist: Debra Sifen

I love my dog. Really. My family thinks I give her way too much attention and they are unmistakably correct. My husband asked me the other day if I think I speak to her more than the rest of the family. I just smiled. When they think I'm not looking, I find everyone else talking to her too. Rabbis often reminded us that animals have their place in the world, but they are not people. Gasp! The whole animal sacrifice is very hard to relate to and I’m not alone. I once read about a lady who had a near death experience. She said, the first person, she saw was…. her dog. And you know those novels about dogs? I read them. My point? I understand dog people.

At least, I thought I did.

I thought I was one of them, but I’m not so sure. Recently, my little dachshund was injured. She hurt her back; well she was sort of dropped. Anyway, she was so pathetic laying in her little bed. No wagging tail. I took her to the doctor and he gave her some meds. Not much better. I took her to the doggie acupuncturist and she stuck her in a magnetic ring. She was a bit better. I then did some home physical therapy on her, putting my 27 years of experience as both physical therapist and dachshund owner to good use. I gave her the warm-bathtub-swim-treatment. She was much better after just three nights in the doggie-spa. But, after 3 weeks of lying around I thought she seemed depressed. I wasn't getting enough tail wagging. So, I decided to go find our local dog park so she could frolic with some other pups. This is when I realized I was way out of my league. Dog park people are not the same as regular dog people.

The dog park was really nice. You can let your dog roam, but there is also a path. Being it was our first visit, and she is quite small, I decided to walk with her around the periphery path. The first lady I met had a big “Marmaduke”-like-80lb-dog that came up to sniff my little 8-lb dog. She said to her dog, “Maxine, be nice to the little puppy.” I explained that Cloe was actually 9-years old and not a puppy (not that it really mattered to me), to which she whispered, “Oh, I just tell Maxine it’s a ‘puppy’ so she’ll be nice.” I smiled and moved on wondering whether I fully understood the implications of her remark. The next lady I met was talking to her friend about being vegetarian: “Ever since I became vegetarian, I can really relate better to my dog.” And so, I moved along as she was justifying to her friend why even though she was a vegetarian, it was OK to give her dog raw meat. I was happy for her dog….the meat part. The third lady I met told me I should take my dog off the leash. She explained that her dog has leash aggression and it is aggravated seeing my dog on a leash. I almost told her that my dog has leash aggression aggression. Nah. I decided it was time to leave the dog park. Cloe was done with her walk and “deposits” and I had a lot to think about. 

I was approaching my car and wondering whether treating our dogs as people has made us more like our dogs. As I sat down in my car I noticed the passenger window was gone. “That’s weird,” I thought. “My window fell out.” Naïve me. And, then I realized my car had been broken into it. I guess being around the dog people had made me a little loony. I don’t think I’ll be heading back to the dog park or the dog people any time soon. There are plenty of nice dog people right in my own neighborhood. I think G-d sent me a clear message. Danger zone. Do not enter.