NEW DOG FIRST DAY

dog in a new world

 

First full day with new dog was an event from beginning to end. I can't call her Kutra any more. This is not her name. Zero resonance with this dog. Maybe for a pit bull. For now, I call her Dog  for absence of a name and I like it for a name. It means canine, which is high praise for me, like calling mountain people hillbillies. To me, hillbilly is a name of high praise. It means beautiful, wonderful people, which I've learned from experience. For me, even calling somebody a dog is high praise. Calling her Dog, I feel a warmth associated with the word dog. She is a silhouette of dog. Silhouette (sil-a-wet), good name possibility, easy to say.  Could spell it Cilawet, avoid the long French spelling with the weird H. Sounds like Lil Bit. They would rhyme in a song. Seems to me in this time of no moral or ethical center in hairless primate society, we'd do well to build the new society following a dog's nature, now that we've learned human behavior is no model to live by. Like you-better-not is absence of morality, control by guilt indicates absence of ethics. Even wolf packs take care of their own. Dogs are known for automatic forgiveness, for loyalty in the absolute, their way of communicating in silence, adding a squeal or a bark for emphasis. A dog will give its life for a human friend without thinking about it first.

 

cat eyeballs dog

note the batman shadow on the armrest

a projection of sofia's self-image

 

Dog nature is not all sweet and gentle, similar to ours. They fight and exhibit jealousy without restraint. First night new dog was here, Martha from next door dropped by. Dog saw her out the window and wanted to meet her. I questioned it. Martha is a naturally gentle, good dog, but that's not all. She's dumb as  rock, never ever learns. Every time I arrive home in the car and she's here, every time, as soon as I open the car door she starts climbing inside while I want to climb outside. Every time I have to struggle with her, put up my leg to stop her, grab her collar, pull her back, and all the time she's struggling with all her might to get in. It takes yelling at her in the loudest voice I can fathom to get her attention. She only responds to yelling and screaming. At the house, Martha outside the door, I hesitated, but dog inside was excited to meet her. I did not know if Martha would be friendly or attack. It was about fifty-fifty in my mind, while considering jealousy it was more like zero-one hundred. The moment they made eye contact, Martha attacked in her full fierceness, and she's a powerful dog. I had to decide in a nanosecond how to handle this moment.

 

every experience is new

 

I kicked a 45-yard field goal with Martha's head. Yelling would not break the state she'd gone into, nor would hitting, threatening, anything. Even cold water could not have stopped her. I needed to distract her attention instantly, no time to think about it, do it now. I realized in the moment it was my role to show my new friend that I am her protector. She will be loyal to me and I will be loyal to her. I've told her she is safe with me and this was my first opportunity to show I mean it. The kick deflected Martha's spell enough to get her attention. She looked at me with eyes that said so clearly I could read the subtitles, "Did you do that on purpose?" I looked at her with eyes that said just as clearly, "Yes I did." I closed the door on Martha and turned off the outside light. This morning I took dog out for bathroom and carried the walking stick for a weapon. Martha came creeping toward us, aggressive eyes on the dog. I pointed the walking stick at Martha like a magic wand the way Vada does it when she's playing Elsa from the movie, Frozen. Martha tucked tail between legs and turned around. I thought, Good, she at least understands magic wands.

 

portrait of good dog martha

 

Today's adventure with dog was riding in the car. It felt good to have a dog beside me again, especially the very image of Aster, herself, even the red collar. Aster has been gone for eight years and I miss her the same as if it were eight days. Dog wanted to be on me the whole time on the road. At first, she thought I was taking her home. I put the armrest/divider between us. It helped. She was anxious, nervous. Her balance was good on the car seat. The continuous curves back and forth, changes of speed, took her a few minutes to get used to. Needed car inspection to renew tag and registration. Crystal's dad is the car's mechanic. She and Vada were in Crystal's shop next door and met the dog. Vada was enchanted. Dog squealed nonstop. I read it for needing bathroom activity. I walked her for it but she did not. Later, I walked her again. It turned out she needed to find the exact spot and she didn't know where it was, had to search until she found it. She was desperate to go and couldn't let herself do it in the car or indoors. Thank you, wonderful dog. The squealing ended. She uses the leash to pull me. She chokes herself pulling me, and keeps on pulling. We look like a cartoon.

 

 

 

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