Dog Lovers vs. Dog People

Maggie Mae has made it through her 30 day trial period without any major problems. She pee'd on the living room carpet two or three times and pooped there once. That's when I thought she'd be heading back to Phoenix. But, I followed the advice of several dog owners at the local dog park (one mile from home) and since then we've managed to get a rhythm to our days. Up at 7:30 for a three mile walk. A No sniffing and no wandering walk....we are walking, period. She is not fed until she earns it by walking by my side all the way down the beach, from Torrance Pier to the end of the Esplanade and back. We come home, where she gets 1 cup of dry food and some of Richards "Country Pet" all natural food from Australia. She has a crate she sleeps in and a patio where I built a 4' by 6' planter for sod, where she can do her thing. It's good. The evenings, if she's been good, she gets to go to the dog park and run and play with 4 or 5 o of her closest friends. I throw a ball or a frisbe and in an hour we head home for dinner. It's working.

I've always been a dog person. I love dogs. I love well behaved dogs. I love dogs who are clean, don't jump up on me, sit when they are told and don't drool all over my face. I love dogs who don't shed terribly much and whose breath doesn't smell like rotting rodents. I don't care for yapping dogs or dogs who try to eat off my dinner plate....yes...you-know- who has a dog like that. I believe in keeping dogs fed, watered, exercised, sheltered and loved on. They should have regular visits to a vet and they must be 'fixed'. I am a dog person.

I am not, however, a dog lover. I don't want my dog to sleep in my bed, on my couch, or in the doorway where I will be going in and out of. I will not dress my dog in shoes, shirts or rhinestone collars. The extent of her wardrobe includes a leather collar, a prong collar, a black leash and the hot pink one she came with. If I call her, she better come and I mean now or she goes into her corner. If I say "stay" she will stay until I say "go". I believe this is best for her own safety and for my sanity. When I say, "heal" she is by my side no matter what else is going on. I don't cook her meals and I don't buy her bags of toys. When I have company, she is not the entertainment. When I go on errands, she stays at home. She's a dog, not a child. Dog lovers don't seem to get that.

I know dog lovers live for their dogs, talk for their dogs and they think their dogs are smarter, faster, stronger or more special than anyone else's dog. They will dress them in Nike's and Tiffany's and feed them only homecooked meals. They let them get away with behavior that they would never tolerate from a child. They will repeatedly call their dogs name, over and over and over, basically begging them to come. Puleeze.

There's only one pack leader in my house and I'm it.