I'm a cat person. I live in my head. I'm an indoorsy girl.
Over the last seven months, however, my brother and his fiancee have asked us to watch their pug, Wesley, while they travel for pleasure and business. Wesley is a bit more work than our little cat (he showed up here Tuesday with ear drops and a bottle of antibiotics for a double-ear infection), but he's a real attention-getter.
When I walk him, it's amazing how people who never spoke to me before feel free to introduce themselves and pet the little fellow.
Which is news to none of you who own a dog, but if you don't have one and you do possess the means, the love, and the inclination to care for an animal, you might want to change that. Especially if you're interested in meeting a canine-loving member of the opposite sex. A reader wrote to me about a year ago to say she'd met her boyfriend while walking her dog.
Already have a dog? Try walking her in a different direction next time. Shake up your routine. See who you meet!
Now, if you live in a tiny apartment and work odd hours, dog ownership may not be for you. In that case, you might consider doing what my friend, Viveca Stone-Berry does. She's a volunteer dog-walker for an animal shelter in her area. She not only gets the satisfaction of helping animals she loves, but she's made new human friends. She gets regular exercise and has lost weight without wasting gas driving to a gym.
Viveca and her photographer/humorist brother, Richard H. Stone, have come up with a series of amusing greeting cards (named "A Barker's Dozen," heh heh; that's one of his photos above) with proceeds going to dog and cat rescue missions. Click here to check 'em out. Or, if you'd prefer, put http://www.dogcaptions.com in your browser.
They're hilarious.
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2 comments:
This is exactly how my neighbor met her boyfriend of a year. They've moved on now (actually she's getting married to someone she met online...after getting engaged 6 weeks after they met; another story for another day), but it was definitely "a dog walking connection" that brought them together one day.
As for me, I don't think I can handle anything more than 2 kids, a few plants and myself, but maybe at some point. When my son was about 2 or 3 he liked to walk his toy dog (the one with the wheels and wagging tale). I got some "ahhhs" but no dates :)
I have a new little doggie named Albert and I never knew how lazy I had become (physically and socially) until he came into my life ... He's got me up and walking and smiling and meeting and greeting and making all kinds of new friends. My life was BORING pre-Alby. And yes, he is a total peeps magnet. He is much better at making friends then moi!
Dee
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