On my run I have places along my route where I stop and say HI to some of my dear “friends”. They’re the neighborhood dogs; my “pseudo” pets, if you will.

I don’t have a dog but I’ve kind of adopted some cool “friends” along the way and I swear they expect to see me nowadays. It’s also a good motivator when I’m being lazy to get out the door. I can easily convince myself to believe that BAILEY (A mixed curly-haired dog who jumps so high he makes me laugh) will be so upset if I don’t see him in the morning and throw his ball a few times in his front yard. The guilt alone makes me go for my run. Wouldn’t want to disappoint him after-all, right? A win-win situation I do suppose.

But this morning on my way back from seeing RINGO (a beautiful white HUGE lab), I observed people walking with their dogs more closely for some reason. And I noticed how the dogs treated each other.

At first, they seem suspicious, they take a moment, sniff here and there, and then, more times than not, are excited to meet another new dog and possible new friend. Usually they start playing within moments! Tails wagging, smiles all around! Doesn’t matter the breed, the size, if they’re mixed or “pure” bloods or what part of town they’re from. They don’t seem to care as long as you seem alright and are willing to be friends, even if it’s just momentary. Dogs behave the same way with human beings: a little suspicious at first, a little sniff here and there and then BAM, happy to meet you!

Sure, there are some scary dogs, even a few dogs with attitude and maybe some take a little longer to get comfortable, but dogs don’t seem to discriminate. You get the same once over, the same benefit of the doubt and always the chance to play!

Two things dawned on me:

1) Dogs treat each other so much better than we do as humans.
2) We humans, treat dogs, way better than we treat each other.

Now, that’s something to think about.

Starsky Suarez. brother of Hutch

When I was a little girl, we had two dogs, or more specifically, my mom had two dogs! They were named Starsky and Hutch. Mixed German Shepard Huskies. I wish I had a picture of Hutch, but unfortunately I don’t. He looked exactly like his brother Starsky here, but he was completely white! So cute! And they grew up to be very big dogs! I still love them and think about them so much. ..and goodness, I miss them something fierce!

Here’s to all the beautiful pets out there! Mwwuuuaaaah!