Monday, November 29, 2010

Bah Humbug and Your Little Dog Too!

Ok, I've had it. I'm really over the dirty looks I'm getting from an elderly couple in my neighborhood. Couldn't they stop being so annoying in light of the holiday season?

I have 3 dogs right now that I walk through our neighborhood and the nearby park twice a day. The reason I have 3 dogs is that we foster a dog every now and then. This big brown dog has been with us for about 7 months now and she may just stay with us. She's old. She's gray. She limps due to arthritis. Her hearing is fading. But I took her in because I thought she deserved to spend her last few years of life being cared for instead of neglected. I simply can't understand why anyone would dump their dog at the shelter just because she's old. But it happens.

About 3 months ago I started getting dirty looks from a couple a few blocks away while I was walking my pack. This couple has a little white pomeranian. That they push around in a baby buggy. Really.

Yes, my dogs are kinda big. Maybe they look a little scary to someone who has a fru-fru dust mop for a dog. They like to wander and sniff. If they make a deposit in anyone's yard I pick up after it. They sometimes pee on mailboxes (at the bottom, not like in their actual mailbox). They're not aggressive. They are friendly.

Today I was walking only one dog and he stopped to pee on the aforementioned elderly couple's mailbox base. The old guy comes charging down his driveway all red in the face. I simply say hello and my dog and I keep walking. A few steps away I come across his wife pushing her dog in the stroller. She gives me a dirty look and crosses over to the other side of the street.

Maybe they think 3 dogs is too many. Maybe they are just prejudice against big dogs. Maybe they don't like the way I look.  Maybe they don't like that my dog pees on the mailbox bases, on trees, and sniffs around the edge of people's yards, which their dog would do, too, if they ever let it out of that whacked out baby buggy.

I'm going to try to ignore it. But they're starting to piss me off.

8 comments:

Sandcastle Momma said...

I've never met a dog who didn't stop to pee on every mailbox post in his path - I just assumed that was natural dog behavior. And what does that hurt?

I truly admire you for taking in foster dogs and this one sounds like she needed you more than most.

Those old folks sound miserable and are probably mean to everyone so I wouldn't take it personally.

And seriously to walk a dog in a baby buggy is absurd!
I ran into a couple with the fattest pug I've ever seen in a baby stroller once and they told me that he was just too fat to walk far so they put him in the buggy so he could enjoy the outdoors. My Dad, who is very outspoken, was with me and said "Well, he might not be so fat if you actually made him walk some!"

Ignore the old folks and be thankful that your life isn't as miserable as theirs must be.

Sayre said...

The little devil on my shoulder is saying you should borrow some neighbors' dogs and make their mailbox a regular stop.... Offer to walk the whole neighborhood by grumpy couple's house.

You just can't please everyone. I have "real" dogs too and my next door neighbor hate them almost as much as they hate my cats. I just ignore them the best I can.

Florida Native Mom said...

Thanks ladies. I hate to admit it but it really bothered me this morning that they were so hostile.

The Florida Blogger said...

It sounds like they're dog elitists. I'm with Sayre. I'd walk the dogs past their mailbox everyday for a potty break. This is another reason why I loathe the thought of living in a designed community. If folks lived in the country more these folks might have stayed in Michigan.

Domain For Sale said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Conchscooter said...

Ah snowbirds.

Unknown said...

Where do they live? I'll pee on their stupid mailbox.

Florida Native Mom said...

Hey thanks Clark, good to know you've got my back!