I'm gonna get a dog one of these days. I have started gazing with interest at the dogs featured in the WAIF videos on Facebook and fantasizing about taking walks with a lovely middle aged golden retriever who I may have rescued, who greets me with love in his or her eyes, thrilled to see me when I come home, grateful for my care.
I want a dog because I would like to find a man who will love me this way. The men I love tend to treat me like cats treat me. They are affectionate, but mostly so I'll feed them. They'll accept my affection but prefer that I not make any demands. They don't understand why I behave the way I do and they refuse to do what I ask, behaving in passive-aggressive ways----mostly by ignoring me or failing to hear me.
Max comes to me for petting when he has been outside all day and has missed me, but it's always on his terms, not mine. Loosy will pester me to sit down and let her hop up, but I can't pick her up to cuddle. Lily whines and moans around the house, ignoring my comforting words, and wants me to feed her from my plate but either gobbles down half my offering or totally ignores it, after begging for it.
I think a beautiful dog would be a way to show that I am a person who wants to be cherished, the way a dog cherishes his/her owner. I could walk the dog on the beach and meet people that way. A dog would express his or her own joy at the arrival of a guest; cats don't do that---they often hole up under the bed or in another room and refuse to socialize. Loosy is different that way, but she can be very annoying.
It may be that owning cats says something about a woman that invites men to treat her as her cats treat her. Not that I'd ever give up my cats completely, but I do wish for a companion who would treat me like a dog would treat me. (And hopefully housebroken.)
7 comments:
It all sounds true to me. But the problem with dogs is that you ALWAYS have to find a dog-sitter when you go away for the day. I love our golden retriever but I wish we had more freedom.
I know I will need to deal with that, all right. Thanks for the comment.
The word for dog love is "unconditional" therein lies the difference between cats and dogs. Get a dog.
I can't imagine my life without a dog! When I had little kids, I got an older dog who was very much a fine friend and another adult in the house. Two years ago, after we lost our friend, we got a little dog who adds joy and life to our busy (and older-kid) household. She's small enough to come with us most of the time--and even fly in the cabin on a plane, though we haven't had a chance to fly with her yet. She even comes to the office with me....you may see a doggy bed under our desk in the RE office.... I love cats, too. But there's nothing like the love of a good dog! As for men? Well, a dog is a whole lot easier, I'd guess!
Good luck!
Robin, I like a lot of your comment, but don't want to publish the U*U* part. Could you revise it and I'll put it up? Please?
This makes me miss our son's dog, who I often walked while they were living with us. But it also reminded me of a poem by Taylor Mali - he's the slam poet who did the 'What Teachers Make' video - so here it is: "Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog."
http://www.taylormali.com/index.cfm?webid=14
Lovely, EBS, thanks.
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