the candid dog

I meet a lot of dogs. I see I go to the dog park every day and see the regulars. Like most regulars, I know the dogs’ names but often not the owners. When I’m just walking around, at a minimum, I smile at every dog I see. It’s a natural response. But if there’s time and the situation is right, I try to find out the dog’s name, to pet it, call it “sweetie”, and usually the owner will tell me a story.

“He was a stray and I tried to find a home for him. But I ended up keeping him. Now it’s 9 years later and I can’t imagine my life without him.”

“My neighbor kept this dog tied up all day. I couldn’t bear it. When I asked about it, it turned out that the boyfriend didn’t want a dog around. So I adopted her.”

Just this morning when I was walking my dogs at the dog park, I saw a woman with a dog who looked exactly like Sasha, my dear dog who died in Sept. The dog’s name was Rudy. He was a stray and his owner found him on a freeway in LA.

In my own case, I adopted 2 senior dogs, brothers, from a shelter 2 years ago. Their owner, who had them both for 10 years, surrendered them. Great dogs.

The dog in the picture is Bear. He’s a dog I met in San Rafael, CA. Bear was left homeless after a flood in Ross. His owner gave him daily walked and love ensued. The man (notice that I didn’t catch his name) proclaimed great affection for Bear and couldn’t imagine life without him.

Every dog has a history. Over the years, I’ve heard countless stories of abandonment and abuse, adoption and love.

You may have thought that you were doing your dog a favor by leaving on the radio, “Animal Planet” or music during the day while you were gone. Although I’ve never done it, I could see why people would think that ever-present sound would provide their pet with some company.

But then I heard an interview with Joshua Leeds, co-author of Through a Dog’s Ear. He said imagine what it would be like if you were left alone in a room with the TV on and you couldn’t change the station or the sound level. Add to that the fact that the sounds from the TV or radio may be sounds that your dog doesn’t have a reference to and can’t process and you may find that you’re not doing your dog a favor after all.

However, Leeds says that his research shows that there is music that seems to be universally soothing and (of course) he has a CD to sell with that music on it. There’s plenty of research and sound samples on his web site to try out if you’re skeptical.

More on dogs and sound-If your dog pants loud and long, it could be laughing and this sound has a soothing effect on other dogs. Read more in Sound of Dog’s ‘Laugh’ Soothes Other Pooches. You don’t have to convince me. When one of my dogs pants, I am immediately soothed and calmed.