Things We Take For Granted: Dog People

Photo by María Helena Carey

Dog people are everywhere in our neighborhood.

They and their beloved pooches hold conferences at the parks well into the night; they get lattes and catch up on gossip early in the morning.  Sometimes you can see them coming at you in the distance, sporting twin cable-knit red sweaters in the morning fog.  You see them navigating snowbanks and potholes and strollers and bikes, waiting for the inevitable number one and number two to be done.

You smell them enveloped in clouds of Chanel and holding bright blue baggies jauntily from their well-manicured hands.  You bump into them when you’re catching the early flight out of town and when you’re stumbling home at bender’s end.

And although you could say that for as long as humankind has domesticated and kept dogs, there have been people who have owned dogs and who have walked them around at all times of day and night; however, that’s really not always the case, is it?  The Dog People — for they deserve to be addressed in caps — are a special breed (Wocka wocka wocka!).  They take their role as dog parents almost as a divine mandate: theirs is not the dog who hangs out in the backyard and is played with cursorily.  Dog People and their charges have what I call an überhuman relationship: one which is devoted and which requires dog walkers dogsitters; special treats baked for the canine digestive tract; dog runs and parks; consultations with the Doggy Lama when things go awry; and a dedication which many would agree prepares them for the arduous and thankless job of parenting down the line.  Of course, many others would argue that their dog(s) provides all the family that many would ever need or desire.

It is this kind of transformative affection which has helped turned a once-neglected neighborhood where people were afraid to walk after dusk into the charming village that sometimes makes me laugh out loud with its straight-out-of-”101-Dalmatians” dyads.  Dog People have been a catalyzing force for getting things that benefit us all as a community, such as bright lights at the park, for instance.  Not to mention, the sheer numbers of people walking around with a loyal, barking sidekick are like a collective security system, watching out for all of us and reminding us that we are not alone.  For that and for all the free pets many of you have let me lavish on your happy mutts, and for much more, I salute you all, steadfast lovers of canines!  If dogs go to Heaven, I’m sure you’ll all see your Fidos and Rovers there.  As long as you don’t put your poop bags in my garbage can.