Babycakes

My Babycakes.

oof...how mushy! %-0

Many people like to brag about their children for various reasons. Ace in school. Top dog on the soccer team. First chair violinist in the school orchestra. Little Einstein. Future president. Future American Idol contestant. You name it.

I like to yak about my child, too. My four-legged child. :-)

He's not really mine: he belongs to my father in-law. But hubby and I care for him mostly, especially during the weekdays. So it is almost like having a kid, I imagine.

You have to feed him, make sure he has plenty of water to drink, make sure he has plenty of playtime, take care of him if he gets sick, and make sure he has plenty of tender loving care.

He's great: he doesn't talk back! No lip from S. Only looks. Poor, pitiful me looks. Or, I'm so happy I could lick you all over looks! Or, you have betrayed me looks.

I talked about S in my last post. And I don't usually repeat a subject twice in row. But this guy: I can't help it! :-)

He is incredibly gentle, sensitive, and sweet, even though he is often stinky, from swimming in the river or rolling in the garden fresh from being fertilized with chicken shit, or very rarely, rolled in dead meat...literally. Eww! Some sort of evolutionary mechanism I'd rather not know about...!

S is the most loving, four-legged creature I know. Which is to say, the only four-legged creature I know personally, if can indeed put it that way. He's a lover dog, not a fighter dog, which suits me perfectly. I love love, and love to be loved! ;-D

S is a people dog. He loves company. And he really loves kids--though most times they don't always love this big, dark caramel colored (some say, chocolate) Chesapeake Bay Retriever. He's probably 80 lbs, more or less. He really, reeeeeaaally does not like to be left alone.

One night last week, he apparently got tired of hubby and me going back and forth between the kitchen and living room to watch the tube while we were eating dinner. Right when I was ready to get up to get seconds, S got up on the couch and plopped himself down, with his forelegs and huge paws that I love so much sprawled across my lap, and his head, leaning against me. He looked up at me as if to say, "How can you possibly resist ME? I love you!" %-D

Well, how could I? I couldn't. I asked hubby to please bring me a second helping of sauteed Chinese cabbage (with garlic). Yum! And I ate it right in front of S, with his longing, searching eyes fixed on me, and telling him, "You ought not to think I'm being cruel to eat in front of you like this, because you've trapped me!"

It's hard to describe just how loving S is; he just loves EVERYBODY. Including strangers! That's not good guard dog material! ;-)

Actually, he's got a fearsome growl, so, better not take him for granted! Chesapeakes are one of the most loyal, possessive breeds out there, so no one better mess with his owner or his family!! We've already tested him out at home.

He's very sensitive, too. The last couple of days, hubby and I have had to put eye drops in his eyes, again, for an eye infection. It's a battle. I'm sure any dog owner knows this already, but our S sure hates it, despite all the petting and cooing we do to calm him down. We put drops in 3x today. And tonight, he showed his resentment towards us quite clearly. Though we tried to give him our assurances of love --with a treat thrown in, he probably felt betrayed! He was unresponsive toward our entreaties of affection. Didn't want to play at all. :-(

I hope he'll forgive us soon! ;-0

Now I know why people love their pets so much. I used to think they were crazy to have such love and compassion for a non-human! I must be one of those crazies, today! I still think that humans come first on the food chain...but that does not lessen my love for S in any way.

He's my buddy. My goof partner. The one who puts things into perspective in an instant when things seem gloomy. My sweet, stinky friend who leaves hair balls and dirty pawprints on my floor. The one who greets me every morning with a happy face. Who wants to kiss me all over when I'm going through my yoga routine each morning. My four-legged child who doesn't want me to leave him at night.

He's my guy.

After hubby, that is! ;-)

Woof woof!!



"I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive." - Gilda Radner (1946-1989), American comedienne and actress

Give Women a Higher Status Than Dogs

I cannot get an article I read the other night out of my head:

"Beat a Woman? Play on; Beat a Dog? You're Gone" , by Sandra Kobrin, from Women e-News.

It made my blood BOIL!

Please read it: it's well-written and ought to be on the front pages of every paper on earth.

Animal abuse is certainly inexcusable. What's the point? :-(( It's just wrong, let alone inhumane. But why do people seem to get more huffed up about a football star involved in high stakes dog fighting (and death) than some star athlete who gets arrested for spousal abuse or beating up a girlfriend?

Does this mean women are STILL second class citizens in the 21st century? In America, the most free country in the world?

That appears to be so, judging from indifference of popular media and popular national sports organizations.

I never have paid much attention to sports/sports news, except during the Olympics, which I enjoy watching. :-) But I cannot relate to what seems to be contrived aggression, or just all out uncontrolled tempers on the playing field. I am mainly targeting men here, since they are usually the ones who get in trouble during any sort of sport...that's not to say that women are incapable of being nasty to one another--but you rarely, if ever, hear about female athletes beating up the ones they supposedly love.

I don't know the intricate details of hormones, but I thought sports was a way for guys to release some of that testosterone! (What do I know? I'm a woman!) Yet the ones who are making an unimaginable amount of money can keep playing their game while beating their honey up at home. And even get arrested for it. They don't have to worry about a thing. Are they thinking: so what if I slap my woman around when I come home? I got a big game to play,tomorrow!

This tells me that the head honchos of these huge sports leagues have their values skewed, to put it mildly. Sure the bottom line is important, but is it SO important you have to keep a certain player regardless of the fact he battered his wife or girlfriend--often repeatedly, AND got arrested for it??


WHERE ARE THE REAL MEN, HERE? :-(

I hope more people will make a BIG STINK about this, so that the powers that be in these sports leagues will never, ever tolerate spousal and girlfriend abuse again.

One might say: well, domestic abuse is their damn business; whatever goes on behind closed doors is their private affair.

That is true...to a point. Once the injured woman has to seek medical help, it's everyone's business. Concerned family and friends will seek to help her, which can cause more stress all around. Fees will have to be paid for jail bail. Taxpayers will have to pay for yet another man who didn't know how to keep his balls and brains where they belong. If children are involved, then their emotional turmoil will likely go unnoticed while they try to be brave and cope with daily living.

Spousal abuse affects the community, near and far, directly and indirectly.

It'll be a fine day when society will view this sort of abuse with zero tolerance and impose severe penalties. When people on the street will recoil in horror when they hear about someone committing spousal/domestic abuse...just as if they heard about a bloody murder today.

And why not?

Abuse is like murdering someone's soul: that person trusted you and you have no thought except to satisfy your own selfish needs by physically and/or verbally lashing out at that someone who was supposed to be special to you. And you spill your poison over and over again, refusing to clean up. That's as good as a slow, painful death, to my mind.

Hey! What about the millions raked in by these fantastic athletes who abuse the women in their lives? Too bad our society doesn't value the brains of those brilliant scientists in the research halls of academia who endeavor to make our world a better place to live. I'm sure they would be happy to have some of those millions to fund their research to improve our lives.

The leaders of the sports leagues could actually make our world a better place to live by taking a step forward in a very loud way: they can announce a zero tolerance policy for ANY player arrested for spousal abuse or beating up their girlfriend. ANY player!!

OR, maybe the hundreds of thousands of sports fans will beat the CEOs to the punch and demand a zero tolerance policy towards spouse and girlfriend abuse? Imagine if all the fans began to boycott their favorite team games as a matter of principle: we don't support you because you condone the beating of wives and girlfriends!

Think the head honchos or the fans can take a stand against domestic abuse?

Perhaps it'll depend on whether or not they truly value women, equal to men as human beings, worthy of respect.