OffTopic, TM, concerning dogs: I had a Chesapeake Bay Retriever for a little over 10 years. She was, by everyone's account, a super dog. We won frisbee contests together. She could retrieve on land or water; singles, doubles, blind retrieves. She could take commands at a distance by my voice, a whistle, or hand signals. And all of that is just for starters. She would fetch my slippers from the closet, although she had to make two trips, one for each slipper. Much, much more. When she died, my wife decided she wanted a lap dog. Searched and searched and settled on a Papillon, who turned out to be an exceptionally good, smart dog. I was spending a lot of time out of the country, so she got a second Papillon to keep the first company. They are best buddies, practically joined at the hip. That was eight years ago. Since then, my wife died of cancer, age 37 and having recently attained tenure. I have remarried and my wife absolutely loves, loves the dogs, and the dogs love her cats. We're a blended family. Anyway, I too thought a tiny dog was weird, but I've gotten used to them. They go with us easily and are an absolute joy. They love to retrieve, so it's easy to exercise them, just throw their balls in the back yard and they will run till they drop. They are really smart, playful dogs. Some people joke that they are circus dogs, because they can do so many tricks.
Thanks for listening,
I love labs and chessies, but Papillons are nice, too.
Best,
Papillon |
