This early in the 2008 holiday season I’m already hearing astounding tales of rudeness toward dogs and their human companions. SO, let’s have a contest. Tell a true tale of the rudest thing someone has said or asked about your dog(s). Entry deadline = December 12, 2008. Below are two recent examples from friends (names and identifying characteristics excluded to shield the guilty from vigilantes).
Hello … let me insult you
Guest arrives at holiday gathering and is greeted by the host’s dog, who approaches politely and sits. This dog, by all accounts, is sweet and well-mannered. Another guest says, “Oh, So-and-So is afraid of dogs.” Before the dog can be retrieved, the guest replies, dripping with disdain and still standing barely inside the door, “I’m not afraid of dogs. I just don’t LIKE them.”
(Hint: They feed this dog twice a day all year long. You? Well, you show up for a meal a couple times a year. Do that math.)
Now that I’m here … the dogs must go
Family member moves to town and asks, “So … when do you plan to get rid of the dogs?”
(Gee, gotta go with the dogs on this one. They were here first and spend 24/7 with their family.)
Here is an example from my own life:
When our late Dalmatian (Penelope Grace) developed lameness around age 6, we did a bunch of x-rays to help figure out if it was a back issue, a hip issue, or a knee issue. A specialist at Colorado State University made the diagnosis — a knee injury needing surgery. No problemo … right? Well, my mom asked me, “Are you going to put her down?”
The funny part is that my mom has had many, many knee surgeries herself, including total knee replacement on both sides. So, I couldn’t help myself and replied, “You needed knee surgery, and we didn’t put you down.”
Entry Guidelines
- Submit only one entry per person as a comment to this post
- Keep entry to 100 words or less
- Use your real email address when the comment form asks for it (so that I can contact the winner)
As always, the winner will be selected at the sole discretion of my darling husband who knows none of you and has no stake in the outcome. Then, I’ll purchase and ship, either a prize to the winner or the winner’s dog.
(And, yes … I’m fully aware that rudeness goes both ways, but this is a dog blog, so we’re focusing one direction. Deal with it.)
*sigh*
Yep, the old … it-would-be-cheaper-to-get-a-new-pet argument should go in the Rude Comment Hall of Fame.
Though this is an old post, it made me think of something that just happened the other day. Cat related, but definitely fits under the rude contest category.
My husband’s cat has had chronic blockages since he was young, because of crystals in his urine. This is a very dangerous thing, and it cost a bundle every time we took him in. On his 7th blockage we told the vet that we were ready for surgery to try and fix it permanently. Most people can end blockages/utis with diet changes, but we didn’t have any luck with that. So, the poor cat basically got his penis cut off to widen the hole (make it harder to block). He went through the surgery, but developed a lot of scar tissue which closed up the hole to where it was quite tiny again.
My mother-in-law asked how he was doing, and we told her he had some complications but overall he was doing well. She said “It is a good thing he lives with y’all now, we would have just put him to sleep.” Wait, so hubby and I who are struggling on minimum wage jobs to put ourselves through college are willing to struggle more to get the cat a needed surgery, and you, who are quite a bit better off than us, would have just let him go?
After his second surgery (thank goodness, the scar tissue hasn’t been a problem this time), my dad asked how much the second surgery cost. When I told him he said “Next time you should just get a new a cat.”
ARGH. Just ARGH.
Shiva (my dog) and I had just returned with friends (and their dogs) to the trailhead after a day of back country skiing. Shiva (beautiful border collie/mix) was the gleeful athletic and smart “black sheep” in a pack of Golden Retrievers (popular dog in Montana). A woman (total stranger) was greeting the dogs at the parking lot and said to Shiva “Ohhhhh! Don’t you wish you were a Golden?!” ???!!!
Thanks, Cindy. I’m glad you get a giggle now and again.
Roxanne, you make me laugh. Don’t have a dog, but do love the idea.
thanks, Cindy
Last fall we left our then new puppy home for the first time to go to a baseball game with relatives. We were telling them about her life with us, thus far. She had been abadoned, along with her littermates, at the local shelter at 5 weeks old. Later she developed Puppy Strangles and nearly lost her life. After much medical care, she did make a recovery and is happy and healthy today. My relative just shook his head and commented on how it would have been easier, cheaper & less hassle to just put her out of her misery. He made some implication on how cheap shotgun shells are. We left the game early.
How about the time I assured my brother’s wife, as my little toddler-age nephew was petting our well-behaved, agility and herding titled dog, that S was great with kids, and she replied “so he is good for something, then.”
I told my adult neighbor not to bend over my dog (Keegan) since that makes him uncomfortable. My neighbor then reaches his hand out over Keegan’s head. Duh!!!! Keegan runs off and I say “see, he doesn’t like that.” Keegan comes back to reinspect the neighbor and the neighbor reaches out AGAIN!!! This time Keegan air snaps at the man. Then the man asks me why my dog is “so schizy.” Um, who sounds like the “schizy” one in this scenario to you?
I’m walking my well-behaved year-old love of my life, Murray. A woman comes up to me and says,”That is the ugliest Dalmatian I’ve ever seen.”
Well, Murray is a Harlequin Great Dane, so the litmus test is a little odd. But what if he had been a Dalmatian? I nearly punched her.