Ten-Finger Exercises

coming in first

Today the sun came out. It's been very foggy here for a week, and this afternoon was a wonderful change. I decided to call it a day after 4.5 hours and came home to get Lola. She has been a pest for the past few days, chewing pencils and anything else she can find handy, small and round. Like bottle caps, chapsticks, thread spools....

I thought I'd let her run for an hour at the dog park, then take communion to a shut-in, leaving Lola to catch a nap in the car. Fortunately the woman I was intending to visit around 3 p.m. didn't answer her phone, so I didn't confirm an appointment in advance. Lola was having far too much fun to be ready to leave, and I'd run into some friends I hadn't seen for a long time.

All was well until a pair of pit bull-mix dogs started making trouble for my friend's young standard poodle. He strode over to the owner and told her to control her dogs, which she was unable to do. His dog ran for safety, but the other dog owner was irate. My friend Roy told her to remove her dogs from the park or he would notify the authorities. She called him names, of which "crazy" was the kindest. She demanded to see if his dog was bleeding, which she was not. That was not the point. His dog had been badly frightened.

Even though I had been standing with Roy and his wife, this owner wanted my name and number so I could testify that her dogs were not aggressive. Although I had not witnessed the aggression, I had felt uneasy when they first came in and were near Lola. They were an intimidating pair, and one of them was wearing a muzzle, a tip that the owner had some awareness of their potential hazard.

After a few more intimidating words from the owner, who appeared to have the same temperament as her dogs, they went down the hill toward the gate. At the same time, another woman was coming in with her golden lab. Although they were out of sight of us, we heard the commotion. The pair of dogs had evidently made a move on the old lab as well. No damage was done, but the pit-bull-lady was again furious that anyone should complain about her dogs. "All dogs are like that," she said. Everyone in earshot disagreed loudly. All dogs are not like that.

I'm debating about hunting for another medium size dog to keep Lola company, maybe a Cairn terrier or something. Something that can run fast without being the size of a boxer or retriever. Lola is really fast! And she really loves, and needs, to chase and be chased.

And right now she needs a bath. Adios.