Against the Norm

Where I live we dog people pride ourselves on our martyrdom to our pets. Dogs need exercise and you can't just open the door and let them run around Brooklyn on their own. Dog groups have even used it in a couple of legal cases. We remind angry anti-dog folks that the very fact of our being around helps to make places safer because we're out and about every day watching what goes on in our neighborhoods. When we're at the top of our game we're out for long stretches in the most extreme weather. Was it so cold they said it couldn't snow but it did anyway? Well, we were out there for three hours! Even though I hate the cold I often feel that if I don't keep up with the hard core folks that I'm being judged.

Enter Eddie.

Ed is not especially fond of rain. He hates the cold. He's so small that extreme heat is hard on him because he not only gets the sun from above he gets reflected heat from the ground below. He's a delicate flower and over the past year I've been learned how I need to adjust my thinking and pay attention to what he needs.

For example today:

It's supposed to be in the 30s and snowing any minute. When I woke up the ground was wet but I couldn't tell if it was raining. My phone said it was 52F and the TV said it was 40F. I resigned myself that I ought to go to the park but I'd play it by ear. Bundled the dog up in 2 coats, carried him down to the sidewalk, and let him loose. It was, in fact, raining but it was closer to the higher temp. The dog was so unimpressed. He made it very clear that we should not go to the park, we should go in the exact opposite direction, just around the block. When we got to the entrance halfway around he decided to go in. I forced him to go all the way around in hopes of properly emptying him out but he was in no way unclear about the fact that we needed to go inside ASAP. Rain! Cold! Two coats! Unacceptable!

Usually we leave about 6:25 and get home between 7:00 and 7:25. We were home before 6:45. Now we're playing fetch and snuggling on the couch.

I feel spoiled.

*Photo taken in the lobby on our way in taken in a brief pause in his frantic rubbing against the walls to dry himself off.