The Truth About Cats and Dogs

I love dogs. I have since I was young. Our family always had a dog or two, or at one point, three around. They were great companions! They were, however, always larger dogs (Irish Setter, Chocolate Labrador, Great Dane). Due to this, I have a bias against small, what I call "yip" dogs. That bias grew today at lunch.

In my experience, dogs have become more prominent in our society in recent years. When we were in Seattle, we experienced a culture shock every time we walked down the street on Queen Anne hill. Outside of nearly every shop, restaurant, bar, or other establishment was a bowl of water for the dogs to drink. Many places even had free dog treats that owners could ask for and give to their dog. This made me remember back to my mom always asking the bank for a sucker or lollipop when I was a child. Tara and I often commented that many peoples' dogs were treated as good or better than children. Grooming salons, doggie boutiques, doggie couture (for those of you who don't live on a coast or watch Queer Eye, that basically means fashion) doggie gourmets, and dog parks have become the rage. All this for man's best friend!

Now back to lunch today. Malibu isn't that different when it comes to dogs. The pet store is extremely overpriced but people still pay the money to usher in a new member of the family. Today, while a few of us from the office went to a favorite burrito establishment, we encountered man's best friend. After we ordered our food, we sat outside to enjoy the beautiful 70 degree sunshine (yes, Jerry and Brian, that is the yellow thing that is warm in some places in the winter). Anyway, a nice lady came and before she entered to place her order, tied her extended son to a table leg. The extended son was a Bichon Frise (dog on left, but you need to click on the name to take this blog to a WHOLE other level!)! This dog began to bark, and bark and bark and bark and bark...Yes pretty much constantly for the remaining of our time there. The line was long, so the owner was inside. And the dog continued to bark, and bark and bark! It got so bad that even my animal loving friend, Katie Ebeling, walked up to the dog and said, and I quote, "Shut your yapper!"

This leads me to an interesting conundrum: If dogs are like children to people, do you treat them like somebody else's child in public? What is the average person to do in this situation. No lie, the dog barked for some 15 - 20 minutes while the owner was in line. We left before she came back out because it was so annoying! If someone's child was left at a table crying hysterically, we probably would have sought out the mom. Should we have done the same for the dog? One of my co-workers said, "Leave your dog in the car!" Can she? Is that a crime like leaving your baby in the car? Again, I love dogs, but this situation was ridiculous!

So, to the lady with the little white dog, please buy a muzzle or stay with your pet. And to those out there with any insight on how to better handle situations like these, please post comments!