Freewrite: Dog Days

I've talked about my dogs, Jersey and Leo, before, and this week I'm especially missing them. I see dogs everywhere. When Ashley and I drive by Liberty Park, it's like watching a dog show. Even as I type, I'm in an Einstein Bros. Bagels in downtown Salt Lake City, and there are three dogs with their owners outside.

Usually I just have to watch from the sidelines as these dogs keep people company, but this week I actually got to interact with dogs for the first time in forever.

Actually, it was all just on Thursday. We went up to the McCompound to say goodbye to Evie and Wilson before they went back to Prague (sad day--thankfully I get to see them in about a month!). The McConkie grandparents let me pet their big beautiful schnauzer, Phoebe. She is a huge dog--tall enough that I don't have to bend over to pet her. And she's the most well-behaved dog I've ever met, too. When she was a puppy, the McConkies took her to an obedience boarding school. Now they tell her to sit and she will stay there patiently until otherwise told. Not a rebellious bone in her body. They take her to hospitals to work as a therapy dog. She's the sweetest thing.

They're not kidding when they call them "giant" schnauzers. These things are TALL.

So that was fun. And then we went over to another house in the McCompound, and there I got to meet Red the Vizsla. His owner was very surprised I even knew what a Vizsla was (ha! She doesn't know me. I know more breeds than most).

He was the opposite of Phoebe--PSYCHO. He just ran around and around in circles, riling Phoebe up, snapping at everyone with sharp little teeth. But once I got him to settle down he was a sweetheart, and so soft! I had no idea how soft a Vizsla could be! His fur was like peach fuzz, and his ears were as soft as glasses cleaning cloths.

This is a Vizsla. So now I won't be the only one who knows what they look like.

And THEN, on the way back from the McCompound, we were driving along the busy road when I saw a dog running in the street. Ashley didn't see him and she would have run him over had I not old her to slow down. He was just running around without a care in the world, ignoring our calls whenever we pulled over and tried to get him to safety.

Finally he went running into a neighborhood, so we chased him down and finally caught him on someone's lawn (the owners of the house were staring at us through the window as we tried to get this dog to calm down and come with us--awkward!) Once we got him into the car (which conveniently already had the seats down and a tarp laid down in the back) we called the animal shelter but they were closed for the night. So we had no idea what to do.

We temporarily christened the dog Pickle because we were in a pickle trying to figure out what to do with him. But eventually Ashley just took him back to the house where she's staying. Her landlords have adopted two cats and a dog, so they were happy to house another stray, and he got along famously with the other pets. After Ashley's friends spoke to him in Spanish and he responded to that, we renamed him Carlos. :)

This dog looks a lot like Carlos, but sadly my phone was dead so I never got a picture of the real Carlos.

Now Carlos is at the shelter, and I REALLY HOPE he finds his family because he was the sweetest dog. I'm sure even if they don't, he'll find a good home with someone else. I just wish it could be me!

On top of all the dogs I got to meet in person, I found some amazing videos of dogs this week. My latest LDS Living assignment is "LDS YouTube Stars." One of them is Devin Super Tramp, who's become an extremely well-known videographer to the point that brands now pay him to make videos as long as he features their brand. Anyways, he has a few amazing videos that feature dogs, so that made me wish more than ever that I could have a dog of my own.


So to all of you who do have your own dogs, be grateful. I envy you. There's nothing quite so amazing as having a dog nearby who loves you no matter who you are, what you do, or what you look like. I honestly believe that dogs are a blessing to humanity. They exemplify a Christlike love that we humans so struggle to find or demonstrate.

For example, the other day I was on the bus when we made a stop and a homeless man got on. He was drunk and dirty and didn't have any money to pay for bus fare, so the driver was trying to gently tell him that he couldn't take him anywhere without pay (especially since the guy couldn't even say where he needed to go). We on the bus were kind of irritated because we were all on our way to work.

But the man had at his heels a beautiful long-haired chihuahua, who stuck by that man so innocently. The dog didn't avert its gaze and step away from the man with discomfort or embarrassment. It saw no difference between that man and the rest of us. When the man finally got off the bus, the dog followed happily like, "Oh, we're leaving? Okay! There's nowhere I'd rather be than with you!"

Dogs are wonderful. And I honestly feel bad for anyone who doesn't like them. They're missing out on some wonderful friendships.