I just needed some perspective today.
I was walking Merlin with a friend and her dog (a young black pitbull), and as usual.. Merlin was working the crowd, people stopped us every 5 feet "can I pet him?" "what breed is he? he is so cute!" "oh god I want one" "Aussies are so smart!" etc..etc..
so 30 minutes into shopping and literally 20 people in I am irritable and like "IT'S SO ANNOYING! LIKE I CAN'T GO ANYWHERE! PEOPLE NEVER LEAVE US ALONE! I KNOW HE'S CUTE BUT ****" just such a selfish moment because I am in my own little world kind of thinking how lucky she is that people leave her dog alone
and I look at my friend just then and she is kind of teary eyed and I'm like "oh my god,what's wrong?"
and little did I notice that the whole time people were bending down and loving on Merlin. Her dog is leaning in and trying SO HARD to get people to notice her and people made a POINT to stand on the other side of me (furthest from her dog) .. so I started paying attention and people did it again, and again, and again. A few people even nudged her dog away.
and she is just like "I just wish people were that nice to her, she loves people... nobody ever wants to pet her and people say mean stuff sometimes and she tries so hard and I just had no idea it was so nice.. having a cute regular dog you know, I've never had another dog before her and I just assumed it was because she is growing up and not a puppy anymore but she's Merlin's age and size and people are..so different with him.."
and I wanted to hug her and cry.
The worst part is, Merlin after a few people WASN'T EVEN FEELING IT. He was being a little JERK. Like leaning away, barely even looking at the people petting him, and people insisted. People showered him with compliments, tried harder, made kissy noises, took pictures..
and here is this dog who was like OH GOD PLEASE PET ME and being super nice and well behaved and people were just IGNORING her.
It made me want to scream! After I finally took notice and started seeing how people acted I started basically telling people "Oh well, SHE is a lot nicer, Merlin is kind of a brat.." "Oh she wants lovins too!" and some people gave her a pat or something but they were still..standoffish.
I kind of hate people today.
but it is a really an interesting lesson. I bitch all the time about how annoying it is having a fluffy dog in this city everyone wants to love on
I never really thought about what the alternative would be like
Her dog is now here playing with Merlin and I am giving her all the treats and lovins!
I was walking Merlin with a friend and her dog (a young black pitbull), and as usual.. Merlin was working the crowd, people stopped us every 5 feet "can I pet him?" "what breed is he? he is so cute!" "oh god I want one" "Aussies are so smart!" etc..etc..
so 30 minutes into shopping and literally 20 people in I am irritable and like "IT'S SO ANNOYING! LIKE I CAN'T GO ANYWHERE! PEOPLE NEVER LEAVE US ALONE! I KNOW HE'S CUTE BUT ****" just such a selfish moment because I am in my own little world kind of thinking how lucky she is that people leave her dog alone
and I look at my friend just then and she is kind of teary eyed and I'm like "oh my god,what's wrong?"
and little did I notice that the whole time people were bending down and loving on Merlin. Her dog is leaning in and trying SO HARD to get people to notice her and people made a POINT to stand on the other side of me (furthest from her dog) .. so I started paying attention and people did it again, and again, and again. A few people even nudged her dog away.
and she is just like "I just wish people were that nice to her, she loves people... nobody ever wants to pet her and people say mean stuff sometimes and she tries so hard and I just had no idea it was so nice.. having a cute regular dog you know, I've never had another dog before her and I just assumed it was because she is growing up and not a puppy anymore but she's Merlin's age and size and people are..so different with him.."
and I wanted to hug her and cry.
The worst part is, Merlin after a few people WASN'T EVEN FEELING IT. He was being a little JERK. Like leaning away, barely even looking at the people petting him, and people insisted. People showered him with compliments, tried harder, made kissy noises, took pictures..
and here is this dog who was like OH GOD PLEASE PET ME and being super nice and well behaved and people were just IGNORING her.
It made me want to scream! After I finally took notice and started seeing how people acted I started basically telling people "Oh well, SHE is a lot nicer, Merlin is kind of a brat.." "Oh she wants lovins too!" and some people gave her a pat or something but they were still..standoffish.
I kind of hate people today.
but it is a really an interesting lesson. I bitch all the time about how annoying it is having a fluffy dog in this city everyone wants to love on
I never really thought about what the alternative would be like
Her dog is now here playing with Merlin and I am giving her all the treats and lovins!