Dogs and Time

@ossobuco,

reading

@ehBeth,

I'll be interested in your take. Me, I had a weepathon at mid-day, but a sort of happy one.

@ossobuco,

I'm trying not to let my mascara run (I'm dolled up for tonight's dance thingie already).

My dogs are both grey in the muzzle, and their temperaments are changing noticeably. They're not puppies and it's sad, even when I love some of the new little quirks they've developed.

The kiss. That last grace-note of trust.

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

I'll have to think about the premises in this piece later, whether dogs have a whiff of time passed, what is their level of memory, and so on.
Just looked at the Michael S. Williamson photos. I'm a born fool for dog photos with or without captions - sometimes. I run pro and con and back on Wegman. In this case, the great dane one got me.

I've a tendency to prefer photos of street dogs for content depth, but not always, not exclusively at all.

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@ossobuco,

How had I never heard of this writer before?! Running out to get his book now:

Quote:

This article was excerpted from "Old Dogs" by Gene Weingarten. Photographs by Michael S. Williamson. Copyright © 2008 by Gene Weingarten and Michael S. Williamson. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster Inc.

Thanks, Ossobuco; should we send him a link to this c/o Washington Post, btw?

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@High Seas,

Good idea, High Seas. I'll try it.

I'd not read Gene Weingarten before - that I remember, though maybe, even probably; don't know if I've seen Michael Williamson's photos; I do check out Wapo off and on, and I often pay attention to attribution, but memory fails. I subscribed for a while, after a visit to Washington back in '87.

I do have a username there at wapo. I figure this article will pull a lot of response and mine might get lost. Back later.

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Our dogs remembered visitors they once knew though years passed in between meetings. Friends and family pets they grew up with were never forgotten and when advised of an impending visit from same, they were wildly enthusiastic. Drop the name of a person or critter they never met, and their reaction, if any, was muted by comparison.

Our friend brought their miniature dachshund puppy to our house for a visit and when she was exploring she ventured to the end of a rather long hall leading to the back bedrooms. My sister, cloaked in a bathrobe and towel around her head, emerged briefly from a back bedroom before disappearing from sight back into it. This startled the puppy and she barked and retreated quickly to the people she knew. A year later when they again visited with the now grown up dog, she immediately went to the end of that hall and barked into the darkness at that remembered 'ghost'.

But our dogs did not recognize their own puppies after a separation of only a few months?????

Dogs don't think or see the world as we humans do, but nobody can tell me that they have not been carefully engineered to be a blessing to us with the least amount of trauma to themselves. Fascinating stuff.

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@Foxfyre,

Brain physiology as so far explored is bewildering and exciting as some of it is clarified. I'm a dodo re present understanding of dogs' brains, busy trying to catch up re human brains.

I'm here as someone who has loved dogs, not as working mechanicals (which brings up dog emotion, even the nature of emotion.)

I think that. somewhat like human behavior, dog actions don't always just conjoin with instinct, say, for food.

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nice heads up buco I recall that Jonathon Yardley wrote a tribute to his deceased dog in the Post a year ago that had me in tears.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020102824.html

AND TO REMIND US

Quote:

A TRIBUTE TO A DOG

The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us, may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer. He will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings, and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

If fortune drives the master forth, an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by the graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even in death.

George Graham Vest - c. 1855

ps I just got another three dogs, increasing the pack to six once more; a female kuvasz named Ami, in April, now 9 months old and two weeks ago rescued two puppies from a litter of springer/brittany spaniels, named Happy and Hannah......and I got married again in July to my high school sweetheart Smile

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@kuvasz,

All right, kuvasz, glad to hear that, and always glad to see you.. and I'll check out Yardley.

Busy trying-working my way to emailing G. Weingarten - I'm a slowfool but I'll see. If I'd just shut up and do it.

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@ossobuco,

You got married again, and to your high school sweetie? Yayyyyy.
Start a new thread, kiddo. We need to congratulate you two.

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What a nice tribute to a special dog, named Harry. Who doesn't get choked
up in the end? Most of us have been there...*sigh*

I also think that we're blessed to have such loving, nurturing animals around
us. Our dog Max is around 13 years of age, and I can see a lot of "Harry" in
him as I did with our previous dogs. It is heart wrenching to see them growing
old, especially when they're in the house since puppyhood, and it's even more
disheartening to see them keep up their posture just to appease us. With every
dog we've seen passing, our heartache grew, but at the same token, I cannot
envision life without another dog at our side.

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@ossobuco,

I dunno, HSeas, I don't see any way to respond to the column with an a2k mention without sounding like I'm spamming. No email to the author that I can see (like they do at the sf chronicle).

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@ossobuco,

Will look into it, Osso, am sure I saw a link somewhere. Sorry for episodic appearances and elliptical responses - am updating variables and equations for a black box trading model I wrote for a hedge fund earlier this year, and with all the mess at the financial markets (with regulators like SEC making things worse - did you KNOW you can't short CVS now?? Yes, that cornerstone of the international monetary system, a goddam drugstore chain, can't be shorted, decreed the clown running the SEC) have been cohabiting with fellow math folks and programmers all of us pretty much camping at the ECN. Just wanted to see news of dogs, will look in again over the weekend - tks for article again, loved it!

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@ossobuco,

It's at the end of the article

Quote:

...........He can be reached at [email protected]. This article was excerpted from "Old Dogs" by Gene Weingarten. Photographs by Michael S. Williamson. Copyright © 2008

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