My Dog Has More Fans Than I Do
Every morning at either 7am or 9:30am we take one of two routes. Either to the left, past the gas station, around the corner, and taking another left onto the first side street that runs parallel to our street. Or to the right, down the main road until we hit the funeral home where Donald stops for a poo and we turn around and trot home. We take the same one of two routes every evening at either 5:30pm or 6:30pm. On these short walks Donald is undoubtedly the star. He’s been beeped at. Waved at. Pointed at. Shouted at out car windows, “Donallllllld!” And recognized by Facebook fans and Twitter followers alike.
On these walks we also have weekly run-ins with one of Donald’s biggest fans—
Library Lady.
Library Lady lives in the neighborhood across the street and walks to where I’m assuming she works—the library.
I might be wrong though because she’s never actually spoken to me.
Library Lady only speaks to Donald.
Yesterday Library Lady scurried across the street toward us with a cardboard box full of papers tumbling from her hands.
“Donalllld!!” She said. “There’s my boy! Oh, you saw me waaaaaay across the street, didn’t cha? Didn’t cha? Yes, yes you did. I saw you look up at mom to see if she’d let you come say hi to me. Yes, yes, you did! Such a gooooood boyyyyyyy.”
I stood there awkwardly invisible, holding the end of Donald’s leash as Library Lady crouched on the ground with Donald between her legs.
Then the moment became more intimate.
“Ok Donald, I need to tell you that I’m very very sorry but I’m going to be gone for a few days. I’m going on vacation. I know, I knoooow, I’m going to miss you too. I’m leaving on Thursday but I’ll be back on Monday, ok? I knooooow, Donald. Awwww, you’re such a gooooood boooooyyyy.”
I stared down at Donald, wagging his tail furiously as Library Lady hurried off to wherever she hurries to each day.
She wasn’t too far off before she stole a few last longing looks at Donald and said, “I’ll see you when I get back, Donalllldd!”
Last Friday, we took route #1 for our 5:30pm walk.
We approached a house with three men and two women standing in a circle in the driveway.
Donald darted directly into their circle faster than I could pull him back.
“Oh! What a cute pup! What’s his name?” The woman said.
“Donald.”
The circle laughed.
Just then Donald flopped onto his back for a belly rub and the entire circle fell immediately in love, inviting Donald and I out to a bar for a drink. (I think they were more so inviting Donald but felt obligated to invite me to tag along as the leash holder.)
I’m a new dog owner so I don’t really know what the protocol is.
Am I supposed to engage with the humans while they’re petting my Donald?
Is it wrong to allow him to meet every human he passes?
I’m sure you get the same reactions from people about your own furry bundle of joy.
Or maybe Donald has a certain je ne sais quoi.
He certainly is very loved.
It might be his big head.
I don’t want to make it any bigger.
Yesterday I posed a question on Facebook and Twitter:
“I’m putting together my editorial calendar for October and I want to make sure I’m writing what you want to read. So, what topics do you want to read about? Frosting? Baking? Business? Donald? Anything else? Or just tell me to shut up.”I received some awesome feedback and requests (and if you didn’t voice yours, please do!). But one of the top topics you wanted to hear more about? Donald! While I’m surprised, I’m not all that surprised. In a sense, I think it’s almost as if Donald is partly your pup too if you’ve been reading my blogs for quite some time. Remember when I was thinking about getting a dog? Then I researched the 10 things a new dog owner must have according to the Internet. Later, I met Donald at the shelter, showed you a picture, and discussed my strategy for deciding what you want when you aren’t sure of what you want. And you looked at his face and his big brown eyes and told me I should adopt him.
Which I did! (It was the best decision ever made.)
Then I shared with you all of his new favorite things!
And photos. Lots of photos.
So you see, you’ve been on Donald’s whole life journey with me, helping me every step of the way and surrounding him with so much love. And I appreciate that.
And I promise to keep sharing his life with you and everyone he meets.
But I might not always inform him of the nice things you say about him because seriously, his little body can’t handle his head getting much bigger.
What things would you like to discuss or read about in this month of October?
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