Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Old Dogs and New Tricks


This morning I dropped Stella off at our local car dealer, nothing serious, just time for her regular six month checkup. It gave me an opportunity to take a different route to work - it was a beautiful, clear day - so I decided to walk.

As I made my way, I noticed a middle age man walking an older black lab. Maybe it’s because Tex and Maggie are seniors, but I really have a thing for dogs with grey faces. The labs name was Sam and it was obvious that he was well loved and cared for.

What took me off guard was the man – who seemed like your normal average Joe –that is, until I started talking to him. The first thing he asked me was if he could come and visit sometime. My initial reaction was – scary guy – must avoid making eye contact! It didn’t take me long to realize that he was harmless - not crazy or drugged - just a gentle soul who marched to the beat of a different drum.

Turns out it wasn’t me he was interested in visiting, he was actually trying to arrange a play date for Sam, Tex and Maggie. We walked and talked for a few blocks, mainly about dogs, nothing earth shattering.

I dropped Sam and his owner off at a dilapidated building on Vancouver’s East Side – a shelter for homeless people.

In a strange way it felt like a blessing of sorts. Who knows, if we're lucky, maybe we'll run into Sam and his man on one of our pug walks.

2 comments:

Maggy and Me - said...

What a beautiful face. And obviously a good friend too. :)

Dil said...

Remind me to tell you some day about the "playdate" mom from hell. Our two dogs played well but....turns out "mom" whos name was also Dilys ( wierd! first sign).....was paranoid schizophrenic and started stalking me...becoming me....we moved to Vancouver that year!!!!