Back when I was 18 my sister gave me a puppy, a little toy poodle. Now toy poodles are small by nature but man! this puppy grew up to be downright tiny, about half the size of his parents. Maybe the size of a chihuahua. I named him Papyrus, Pup for short. For about ten years we were inseparable.
Anybody who thinks poodles are delicate, soft animals fit only to be pampered on the overpriced divans of the French aristocracy has never known one. Poodles are tough creatures, at least as aggressive and dog-like as any other breed. When we were both younger and more active I used to take him walking with me in the Michigan woods and he would follow me anywhere. Once I was walking along the trunk of a fallen tree surrounded by branches and he walked right along, balancing fine on the fallen limbs.
But all good things come to an end, especially dogs. Their short lives compared to humans are… well, sad. We have all lost a beloved pet and I don’t have to say how I felt when Pup finally died in 1980.
I dream of him constantly. Sometimes I dream that I know how old he is (or would have to be) sometimes I know he has passed but I still like to see him and be with him. Dogs are like that.
Last night I dreamt I was with him in some nondescript setting and he suddenly told me that for a change he was going to take me to the alternate reality ruled by dogs. This was quite an honor, apparently, and he asked me with all sincerity not to embarrass him. I of course promised and he took me and a companion I was with to a small resort town on the shore of a lake.
I remember seeing two dogs sitting on a bench in the water just offshore looking inland, carrying on an animated conversation.
Anyway the minute we were there somehow my companion and I decided that the grass growing there was absolutely delicious and we just started puling up big handfuls and stuffing it in our mouths.
I think Pup was not amused. I guess I did embarrass him after all.
I guess no point to this story, I just thought it was kind of cute. And maybe if there’s a moral it might be something like this; don’t criticize the way your doggie behaves, some of the things we do probably seem pretty gross to them, too.
But I still frown on the butt-sniffing thing.