I am a walker! When my kids were little, it was kind of strange for me to walk anywhere without pushing a stroller because I spent so much time pushing one. And that’s how I felt today, walking without Alfred the Lion Hunter on a leash. Without having to call Ernie to walk right next to me whenever other people or aminals were approaching. On the one hand, it feels good to not be constantly on the watch. On the other hand, I miss my buddies.

I love dogs (and other aminals) but I haven’t been a dog owner since I was 19 and my childhood dog, Tigger, had to be put to sleep*. I have mixed feelings. There are dogs all over The Planet Ann Arbor. It would be nice if all dog owners were responsible enough to keep them from running away and getting into traffic or jumping on people or knocking people (me) down in the snow or biting people (me) through their ski jackets. But not everyone is. And that’s why I don’t have a dog. Because I am pretty sure I would *not* do the responsible thing and get my dog (me) properly trained. Don’t get me wrong. I think that pets can be very good friends and family members. But I need to be free to pick up and take off at a moment’s notice and I am too lazy to walk with a plastic poop bag.

Ernie and Alfred, I had fun with you guys and I learned a lot. I was glad to hand you off to your moom again but I’d take care of you again in a heartbeat. Love, Kayak Woman.

* Tigger may have been “my” dog but she really belonged to the whole family and you can bet that The Commander was the one who fed her and took care of her.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 6th, 2007 at 5:05 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.