Hobbes & Nipper
Wolfs .... the animal lover
Like many of
us, Wolfs has pets, and loves all sorts of animals. Below are pictures
of his Cocker spaniels, and a few other critters who have made his aquaintance.
Hobbes & Nipper
If You Didn't Have A Dog...
...when you went house hunting, you wouldn't have to worry about fenced yards, dog doors and dog ownership restrictions.
...you wouldn't have to persuade the homeowners association
that your Mastiff weighs less than 30 pounds.
...you could seriously look at the house with white
carpeting instead of limiting yourself to homes with carpet that matches
your dog's coat and the dirt in the backyard.
...you could have a velvet sofa to match your white carpet.
You wouldn't have to tell the furniture
salesman, "Washable fabrics only, please, in dirt brown."
...you wouldn't have to buy carpet cleaner and glass cleaner
by the gallon, and you could take down all
the baby gates that close off every hallway and room.
...you wouldn't have to be an expert on the local flora
and fauna. You could ignore foxtails, burrs and all
the other seeds that cling to dogs' coats. You could
stop shocking your relatives with talk of fleas, ticks,
mange, roundworms, tapeworms, and the other assorted
parasites that dog owners must know about.
...your car with 50,000 miles on it would still smell like new, instead of like an old army blanket - a wet one at that. You would have clean leather seats instead of plastic garbage bag seat covers with claw marks.
...you could have bought that fancy sports car instead
of the economy model station wagon with four
doors and a hatchback with room for the dog crates, water,
dog show equipment, flyball box and agility
obstacles.
...you wouldn't come out of the store to find three kids and two adults with their noses pressed against the window of your car, saying "Oh, how cute!" while your dog is destroying the interior of your car.
...you couldn't be caught dead outside at 11PM in your
pajamas, during a rainstorm, telling Fido to go
potty, while Fido is having a great time searching for
the gopher he missed that morning.
...you wouldn't be standing in a park at 8AM on Saturday with 10 other equally miserable dog owners while a drill instructor barks, "Heel! Make him pay attention! Make him behave!"
...you and your husband could share the whole bed instead
of hugging the edges while Rover and Fido
make themselves comfortable between you.
...you wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night with
that terrible falling feeling, while four feet planted
firmly in your back push you closer and closer to the
edge of the bed.
...you could sleep until the alarm went off instead of waking at dawn with a cold, wet nose stuck firmly in your left eye.
...you could read the morning newspaper on a rainy morning instead of standing on the back stoop trying to persuade Rover that rain doesn't dissolve dogs and yes, he had better go outside and relieve himself.
...you could have fancy dinner parties instead of simple get-togethers to which you invite only other dog owners. They understand why there is dog hair in the wine glass and a dog bone under the sofa cushion. They understand when the invitation says, "Casual dress! Wear jeans!"
...you would lose that wonderful circle of friends who
understand the terms heel, sit/stay, finish, muzzle,
stop, hock and conformation. You wouldn't have friends
who share favorite dog breeds and who tolerate
different breeds. Dog friends always have an extra plastic
bag and are willing to share it when your dog
has an "accident" in public.
Dog friends are the only people who understand when they
see you examining Fido's stools for the baby
toy he ate the day before. Dog friends understand budgeting
for the veterinarian, for rawhides and
chewies, for flea baths and grooming, for dog shows and
fun matches. Dog friends can talk about the
joys of puppy-hood, about house training and adolescence.
Dog friends can share the grief of losing an
old dog, and they never say, "But it was only a dog."
So tonight, as you climb into bed, exhausted from a hard
day at work earning money to pay the drill
instructor and the veterinarian, look into Fido's dark,
chocolate-brown eyes and think how boring,
uninteresting and unrewarding life would be if you didn't
have a dog!
Note: Printed in Dog Fancy magazine, but I don't recall which issue
or I would have given proper credit.
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