Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Boys And Their Dogs



I took my husband's truck in for some regular maintenance this morning and got a ride back home in their shuttle. I had been dreading that ride for a couple of reasons. I'm usually alone with the driver, so I worried that there would be uncomfortable silence for most of the trip.

Yes- that was my biggest worry. A minor worry was that he'd rape and kill me. I have no explanation for why the raping and killing thing wasn't the more weighty concern. We'll let my therapist handle that.

ANYWAY, on my way out the door I looked at Henry's sad little face and decided to take him with me. I thought he might be a conversation starter. (And oh yeah-keep the guy from attacking me.) He's a little dog so I didn't expect it to be a problem. And the last time I got a ride home we left immediately, so I wasn't worried about Henry needing to use the little dog's room while we were there.

Much to my disappointment, I was told the wait for the shuttle was about 45 minutes! Yikes! I did not see that coming. Well, I walked Henry around a bit, got some of their free delicious coffee and settled into a chair outside. I prayed he wouldn't bark at every stranger who walked by. Or worse.

Henry turned out to be the hit of the service center. Grown men turned into little boys as they passed by and spotted him. Henry wagged his tail like a maniac and accepted their petting. Four men told me about the dog(s) they had at home, one ran to his office to show me pictures of his pooch in a raincoat and one sad guy told me how his canine buddy died.

You gotta love a man who loves his dog. I've seen all three men in my house turn from Joe Cool to a giggling little boy whenever Henry enters the room. Yes-even my husband! I caught him laying in the floor laughing last night while Henry frantically licked his face.

Henry helped slightly with the ride back to our house, though the driver was more interested in the radio and his cell phone than little ole me. It wasn't as awkward as I had expected. Actually, something good came out of it. All that comfortable silence gave me plenty of time to mentally write this blog!

Is there a man in your life who has a soft spot for his pet? (keep it clean, people!)

3 comments:

Chicken And Waffles said...

I dated a guy in college who had an extraordinary affection for his pet ferret Fred. Fred was cute although he had a propensity for nipping (don't go there, people). My boyfriend liked to let Fred watch us have sex. I didn't care much about Fred "watching" but I always worried about Fred deciding to spontaeously participate and uh..nipping. I will leave it at that.

Unknown said...

My husband is not a cat person but he loves my cat Stella. He even calls himself "Daddy" to her. Stella has some dog-like qualities to recommend her though - she's very friendly and sometimes even comes when she is called.

He also still talks lovingly of his childhood pet - Lance The Super Poodle. (his brother and sister call him that. I just don't know why.) And, there was the dog his first wife left behind with him - Trudy. Trudy was a great dog and he will tell anyone how great she was and how she would sit a few feet away from the table and watch people eat, but if you actually turned and looked at her, she would shyly look away.

More Henry posts, please! He's too cute.

Anonymous said...

I love the pics of your doggies!! My husband and I have two weiner dogs and they are our babies. And yes, he turns in to a big ole mush-ball! LOL!