Gone to the Dogs

I haven't owned a dog in quite some time now.  I once had a blue heeler/German Shepherd mix named "Shadow."  He looked like a miniature German shepherd.  Funny dog.  He made me laugh.  That was probably around 2000.  He was small enough to fit in my lap, but it's not anything I ever allowed.  Call me old-fashioned, but I believe that dogs remain on the ground. Maybe because I never had a toy dog 

When I was almost four years old, I got a German Shepherd puppy.  I named him "Killer."  Hey, I said I was three, going on four, so cut me some slack on the name.  I used to love to pick him up and carry him around.  My father told me that if I kept doing that, he would get spoiled.  I learned my lesson that very same night.  Killer was in a box in my room and he howled like he was being forced to watch a recent Nicholas Cage movie.  As soon as I got out of my bed and walked over to his box, he'd look at me with those puppy dog eyes (literally) and would get quiet.  It took three nights for him to sleep through the night without screaming for me.  I never picked him up again.  If I wanted to pet him, I would sit down on the floor/ground and do so from there.

People today take their love for dogs to a whole new level.  Something that I absolutely can't stand to see is a person driving with a dog in their lap.  There should be a law against it because it's a driving hazard.  I once saw a lady veering from lane-to-lane on the interstate.  I thought she was drunk, but when I passed her, I saw her dog was trying to lick her in the face while she was driving.  I also saw a lady almost rear-end a guy when her dog acted as if he was jumping out of the window.  She got so nervous that she almost didn't hit the brake in time after getting him under control.

"Girl, did you see what Snooki did last night?"

I know that this country has gone to the dogs and I didn't have a problem with it until I realized that it affects my safety.  Keep your pets in the backseat and out of your lap.  So many people claim to love their pets like children, but you wouldn't let your child ride in your lap on the interstate, would you? The state of Hawaii already has a law in place requiring dogs are restrained in cars and other states are following suit. I can only hope that this becomes a country-wide law and soon. People are already distracted enough by iPods and cell phones. The last thing I need is someone hitting me head-on because FiFi blocked their view.

Good dog!