My local library recently went through a lobby renovation that allows people to check out books themselves and to pick up any held items from a public area. What was once a communal activity is now an efficient self-service pod of a process. Another change put bookshelves on a main wall for special displays. Where artwork (quilts, paintings, etc.) once hung, you can now find the most recent fiction and some thematic selections librarians pull together. Recently, I found a dog book display, including Joe Coomer’s “Apologizing to Dogs” (Scribner, 1999). It’s a novel that takes place all in one day along a historic street of antique shops, but there’s a dog character that pegs fearful dogs beautifully. Here’s an excerpt. (The dog refers to himself as “Himself.”)
“The dog Himself sprawled under the porch, holding down the ground with as much weight and body surface area as he could muster. Then rolled over, felt the dirt work its way up between each of the bones in his back. Work, ceaseless effort. With this nose in the air, the knowledge of approaching rain puddled at the back of his skill again, and a soft growl guttered in his throat. Rolling over a bit farther, he licked … a pink itch on his hind foot where a toe had once been, licked the cool dirt beneath his muzzle. This was all comforting. His tongue was one of the few things that reminded him of his mother … the voices of the two men in the bathtubs were vaguely unsettling, as if the men were on the verge of chasing him. A car passed in the street, mesmerizing hubcaps, the noise of the rubber on asphalt exactly the same as a squirrel’s fear. But he knew they were not the same. Before he realized it, he was whining, the whine without reason, the abysmal anxiety of being alone under the porch …”
I’ve written before about how Lilly disappears in her fear. She cannot hear me, cannot see me, cannot respond to me. She simply cowers on the ground as if she is entirely alone in the world.
Himself, the dog in the book, is indeed alone. BUT, I found this description very familiar. Thought I’d share.
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Hi! I saw your comment on Patty Khuly’s blog about owning a greyhound-lab mix. It’s rare to hear about those, and I have one too — he’s a brindle with white markings, almost three years old. Do you have pictures of him online? I’d love to see if he looks anything like mine. ampham@eiu.edu is my e-mail!