Responding...
I'm getting a lot of traffic today, because of the NPR commentary. And in addition to that, I've gotten a few emails from people who *really* disagree with what I had to say on the radio. So I wanted to add something here...
And I did, wrote a looooong post explaining, but then I took it down again.
Because it's really not that big a deal.
And I did, wrote a looooong post explaining, but then I took it down again.
Because it's really not that big a deal.
7 Comments:
LOVED the NPR commentary re: dogs and i feel sorry for you for speaking your mind because dog lovers are fucking narrowminded zealots and i'm sure you've gotten a ton of hate mail as well as probably a threat or two. you want to see psychopathic behavior, criticize dogs in public. it's guaranteed because the REASON dog fantatics are dog fantatics is because they don't know how to get along properly with humans
I can't believe everyone doesn't agree with you on this...especially about the freakish way ED cried on national tv. I'm with ya.
hey, i didn't hear the npr bit, and my browser won't play it. anyway, i have NEITHER kids NOR dogs, BUT, i thought you might find this article interesting. it's basically the opposite position, and that writer got some flack as well! which is, i suppose, just to say, damned if you do, damned if you don't. ahem.
Well, Laurel, now that your commentary was chosen to lead off this week's NPR "Pop Culture" podcast, you're going to get a fresh batch of email and comments!
I have to tell you that the commentary, while going occasionally for humor, moved me to tears because we were almost in your same position. Our canine was our baby as well, until the birth of our first child (now five years old). We quickly realized how much we had been altering our behavior to put up with the dog's strangely wired mind. When my wife was bit on one hand while holding the three-week-old girl in the other, it was the final straw.
One vet recommended we put the dog down; it probably would have been justified. An animal behaviorist recommended a regimen that sounded like a bizarre "doggie intervention." We didn't believe it would work. Then a friend – a single male living alone – lost a dog to cancer. He took in our crazy dog, and it worked out great.
We got lucky, and that dog leads one charmed life. But there was never – never – any question that the bite was a one-way ticket out of our house.
The one thing I disagree with, though, is your comment that it's "just a dog." I think this dismissal diminishes the relationship that humans build with their pets. Sure, those relationships can get eye-roll-worthy . . . but I can think of a lot of human-human relationships that are pretty weird. In a "baby vs. pet" battle, there is no question who will win. But that doesn't make the process of removing the pet from the household as easy for everyone as it might have been for you.
But this started with the Ellen thing, right? Yeah. She went a long way toward giving dog lovers a bad name last week. Thanks for that, Ellen.
All children should be converted forthwith into food for dogs! Any literate landowner knows this to be so!
Ellen stinks, Dave the Dog is probably quite happy in Iowa, and thank goodness Mose is okay. You do have a talent for controversy, my friend!
I never would have stumbled upon this blog if it weren't for the NPR commentary. Blessings come in different packages....and it seems you've been getting a lot of packages lately! Your magnets...books...all little blessings. I adore your blog. You're an amazing writer. After reading a few entries I felt like I'd just sat down with a friend and had a cup of coffee at her kitchen table...with a bunch of toys and dirty laundry sprinkled around. When stuff like today happens....just remember how deeply cool you are.
molly
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