About a dog

Recently have been missing my pets again, terribly. While we have a bazillion cats around (one mommy who loves lying her belly on the wet sand of my garden), it is not the same as having a critter at home to welcome you, one who knows and who loves you. I miss watching TV with Nelson's head on my lap, intently watching Bliksem (the kitter) stare out the window. Paging through the Outside Magazine the other day there was the cutest picture of a dog napping on a camping trip with his peeps - and I recalled one of my favorite past times in the world - camping with my man and my dog. *sigh*

Anyway, enough of that - based on this melancholy I thought I would tell you about a book I recently read:

While I am terrible at reading novels, always opting rather for historical books on topics that interest me ("Shake Hands with the Devil" by Lt. Gen Romeo Dallaire about the Rwandan war, "Across Boundaries" autobiography of Mamphela Ramphele, South African woman leader, "A Problem from Hell", Samantha Power, about genocide and in particular America's perception, lack of engagement and responsibility surrounding acts of genocide) etc... I picked up a simply silly book recently after seeing a colleague read it at the pool. "Marley and Me" by John Grogan is an extremely easy read (took me, a notoriously slow reader only a couple of days to breeze through the large print hard edition) about a man, his family and his DOG, Marley. Many of us "issue dog" owners think we must have the "worst dog" in the world when it comes to eating our clothes, having accidents, pulling on the leash and the plethora of other "challenges" brought about by our K-9 companions, and this is exactly the premise of the book. An owner with a pre-conceived notion of what a dog should be like, only to be surprised by the different type of animal he adopts with his young wife. It follows the trials and tribulations (of which there were quite a few) to the heart-warming bond and love they have for each other.

The book is a must-read for all dog-lovers, but in particular for those of us who have raised "problem dogs". Many of you know Nelson, our heartbreakingly cute Brittany Spaniel who came to us via an adoption agency who found him as a stray in St. Lois. His stay in our condo in West LA was pretty traumatic, for him and us. He suffered severe separation anxiety that lead him into all sorts of mischief, and even allowed him, at a scrawny 38lbs, to break out of the bomb proof dog crate we tried to leave him in one day for his own safety. Many books, training advice, two different types of "doggy prozac" and thousands of dollars in home repairs (including my single-handed tile job of the entire ground floor of our condominium after cleaning the carpet once too many) and doggy daycare, Nelson is now a well-adapted, loving, less terrified, personable, and even (almost) dog-loving animal living it up in the Downtown LA scene with his new mom and newfound sister Tir'na (with regular run-ins with Hollywood stars including Robin Williams in his elevator recently I've been told)

Stacy, Fiona, Marie and everyone else I know who have raised or grew up with a "dog with issues" (or Lois, Larry, Berni, and everyone else who have doggy-sat the Nelsonator for us) will be well served to read this book. I read and cried for days, it is a very heart-warming story (Chris freaked out one night when he got home from a poker game to find me balling my eyes out on the couch).

(Stac, Lois & Berni - As the Nelsonator's prize babysitter, auntie and now new mom, your copies are in the mail)

For anyone else interested, you can find it here.

(PS: I am currently reading Cormac McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses", amazing writing is all I can say)