Off The Leash

Off The Leash

Adult nonfiction
"Control was no longer feeling like the goal of this dog
endeavor for me. The training, the commands, the work, the Cesar
Milan protocol--they were all demoted to a much lower tier of
priority. They were becoming the context, the architecture of dog
ownership. Play was the real target, to watch Toby swagger inside of
the lines like a furry acrobat. Ad-libbing, letting it happen, that
was what I was now enjoying, and I would cringe when watching uptight
owners pull their dogs away from happy play because they wrongly
feared it was too much. I was shedding the drive to make Toby a
strictly behaved dog, Tom's and my picture-perfect yellow goose, a
poster boy for 'The Dog Whisperer'."
Do you love dogs? Do you enjoy reading about dogs? Do you find
the foibles of your fellow human beings interesting and amusing? If
so, you will find Matthew Gilbert's Off The Leash: A Year At The Dog
Park to be a must read.
Gilbert was an unlikely dog owner. The son of what he called a
"side walk worrier," he learned his mother's canine phobia at a very
early age. He also had been strongly affected by losing his father
early in life.
"The thought of getting a dog, once I'd warmed up to dogs, was
checked by my tendency toward anticipatory grief. Why would anyone
let themselves love a dog? I'd think. Why would anyone invest their
tenderness and devotion and need in a creature that stays for only a
dozen or so years--thirteen maybe, if you're lucky, fourteen if you're
supremely blessed...With a dog you're on a fast track to heartache."
When Gilbert married a dog lover, Toby, a lab, became their
adopted child. While his husband worked outside the home, he was
able, as a newspaper TV critic, to pursue his career while being a
stay at home parent. He was never much of a people person.
Television and electronics satisfied his definition of a full life.
When he started taking Toby regularly to an off the leash dog park to
let him socialize with his own species he was pushed way out of his
comfort zone. The loveable pooches were accompanied by an eclectic
group of humans who had created their own little community--one which
they wanted him to join. In a poignant epiphany he realizes that Toby
isn't the only one getting more freedom.
"...The idea of a daily intermission from the virtual, a spot of
sun through the clouds, appealed. Like the rest of civilization, I
was leashed to my devices, as well as to my Facebook friends and my
twenty-four-hour news scroll. It was the last frontier in self
protection and emotional distance, to be somewhere and yet still
psychically somewhere else..."
If you ever find yourself yearning for a space to go off leash
from the non stop demands of the virtual world this is a very good
book to read.
I've recently realized that I acquire dog like cats--the in your
face ones rather than quietly sedate ones. Joey has been called a
doggie cat more than once. He loves to play actively with me. When
he's awake, he's constantly seeking physical attention. When I'm
reading he finds my lap the purrrfect place to be.
On a purrrsonal note, I had the greatest time at Pride Day in Bangor.
I worked and then got there just in time to carry my end of the
Equality Maine sign in the parade. It was so wonderful to have
hundreds of spectators with their children and dogs cheering us on.
Then during the festival I tabled for Equality Maine, visited at other
tables, saw old friends and made new ones, and danced in the street
when bands played songs I really liked. That was one fun day.
This week I have really good work hours. I learned that even though I
tend toward flamboyant clothes I'm flamboyant even in a uniform.
Maybe it's my personality or my style or how if there's music I can
sneak in dance moves wiping down tables. I just know I am getting
paid to do something I love to do.
A great big shout out goes out to all who made Pride Day truly awesome!
jules hathaway



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