Some ignorant jackass ran an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle this week talking about the decision to euthanize his pitbull because it was violent, or something like that. As a pit owner, stuff like that just pisses me off. If you read the piece, it's obvious the guy didn't understand how to be a competent dog owner--most of the dog's behavior was a result of the owner's actions reinforcing negative behaviors.
This piece is so much better: The State of The American Dog
Now, any dog that comes as a rescue comes with its own apocrypha. Nobody knows his past, so a past is ascribed to him. But when we met Carson, his past as a "bait dog"—a nonfighting dog whom fighting dogs gnaw on as a prelude to combat—was inscribed on his body. He had broken teeth. He had filigrees of scarring around his eyes. He had broad hairless patches of scarring around his neck that revealed his pale porcine skin. He had a ten-inch burn down his back that people often mistook for raised hackles. And yet he managed to strike a comic figure instead of a tragic one—that was his glimmer. He had one ear up and one ear down, protuberant green eyes, a panting grin that wrinkled his cheeks, and an air of insistence and optimism that was never anything less than ridiculous given his circumstances. He climbed onto my wife's lap on a day that happened to be my wife's birthday, and we thought he was giving himself to her as a special gift; we didn't know until later that climbing onto the laps of perfect strangers was his move: his survival mechanism and perhaps his con. Whatever it was, it worked. We took him home that day and promptly freaked out.
Today we said goodbye to our 9-year-old pooch, Murphy. One day you're fine, the next day cancer is kicking your ass. I like to think we gave him a good life -- daily walks (even after the arrival of the human kids), frequent swimming trips to the lake, mountains hikes, treats, car rides, belly rubs. Still hard to say goodbye to a pup you've raised since he was 8 weeks old and who became a member of the family over nearly a decade. Y'all hug your pups extra tight tonight.
And don't forget the puppies: The NRF estimates that Americans will spend $350 million just on pet Halloween costumes.
And don't forget the puppies: The NRF estimates that Americans will spend $350 million just on pet Halloween costumes.
And we wonder why ISIS wants to kill us.