Dog Worshipping

This is Bella. We adopted her over the weekend. She's a papillon, 7 years old, house trained, very well behaved and a pretty happy little dog. I was excited to get her after our run of huge dogs that just were not fitting well with our family, but nervous because she is a little dog and my kids could be rough on dogs. So far she's held her own, even up against Missy whose a little bit bigger than Bella is.

Saturday we made a trip to Walmart to get some dog food and dog bowls. We have pretty much everything else, but the pink bowls I just couldn't resist. I resisted getting her a pink collar and leash, figuring she already had a collar. And she did, and the owner's even gave us a cute little pink leash to match her collar. While I was in that aisle at Walmart, I was amazed at what they had for dogs.

Clothes, sprays, spa treatments, designer collars, designer treats, frilly beds and high tech dog bowls, toys meant for nervousness, activity, tooth cleaning or snuggling, dog carriers and dog strollers. It was like a miniture baby aisle...or spa aisle, or exercise aisle. It was weird. It was overwhelming. It was interesting but also alarming. I even found dog food by Rachel Ray. I could have spent 30 minutes in that aisle and still not seen all there was. I'd also probably come out of that aisle 100.00 poorer too if I didn't control myself.

I grew up with dogs and have had dogs almost my entire adult life. The last three years have been hard since Justin passed away, and Katie a year before that. I miss having a dog, having a friendly nudge under the arm for petting, a pull on the arm as I walk them, the goofy grins and lopsided glances. I know that the new accessories seem to be the little toy dogs, dressed and primped and loved on like four legged babies. I read an article a while back about a family that drove around and around looking for a park for their children to play at and finally, after searching for an hour and a half, found a park....for dogs. It seems more people have dogs than babies, and while I appreciate a good doggy friend, I can't say they replace the same feeling I have for my children.

These thoughts make me think of Open Season, the movie about Boog, the bear, getting sent back to the woods to fend for himself just as hunting season opens in 3 days. Shaw, a hunter, starts seeing "conspiracies" with the dog, the deer, the bear and pretty much any other animals. "How many other animals are in on the conspiracy? God bless America! I hope the bald eagle hasn't turned!" Traversing the pet aisles in Walmart certainly gave good reason to consider a conspiracy theory.

I do have to say some of that stuff was really cute though. And I have to say Bella is really sweet too, and I know not too far in the distant future even my boys will be searching out treats and toys for spoiling Bella with. They just have that way of settling in and begging for attention, which we so willingly give over.