Given Taiwan’s lack of space and the gipsy lifestyle many waiguoren lead, why would they own a dog? If you live on a farm, fine: otherwise, forget it.
So why do people own dogs?
A: To be a cute prop for chatting up xiaojies at the local park.
B: You have serious personality flaws which prevent you from establishing human friendships.
C: You hate Taiwanese and the local foreigners.
D: Taiwanese just aren’t hairy enough.
E: You took pity on a poor creature.
F: Bastard friend/ family member/ neighbor dumped it on your doorstep.
G: It gives you an excuse to stay in Taiwan a little longer.
H: It’s good to have something around that smells worse than you do.
I guess b is the closest for me. And I have always wanted a dog. Since Im not getting any younger, might as well knock a couple of dreams of the wish list…
Have resisted so far, but I know one day she’s gonna come home with some abandoned, flea bitten mutt, give me the deepest, butt kissing look possible, and say “But Dad, he/she/it’s so cute! Can we keep it?”
She’s 11, headstrong and determined to get a 4 legged friend…The worst part is I can no longer use the “lack of space excuse”. We have a proper yard, and at 50+pings is more than adequate crapping room for a medium size dog.
I brought Dofu home almost two years ago. I always had dogs and I wanted my son to know the pleasure of unqualified love and trust that a dog provides… and I wanted one too.
I researched some different breeds and found one (breed) that was not too large for our relatively small space and which could adapt easily to our lifestyles (my boy’s, my wife’s and mine).
So far, its been everything and more than I had hoped for. My boy and Dofu get along like the best of friends. Dofu waits on the balcony every day at the same time for my boy to return from school and greets him enthusiastically. Dofu greets each of us enthusiastically. Its a pretty nice feeling to come home to a being so thoroughly and sincerely delighted to see me.
My boy feeds and walks Dofu every day, and plays with Dofu all the time. My boy is a very gentle soul, but having Dofu has still afforded me opportunities to discuss with my boy the need to treat animals with respect and kindness. Having Dofu has given my boy a reason to be responsible. Having Dofu has also taught my boy what it means to worry about some being that you care about.
Caring for a dog is a wonderful experience. I highly recommend the same for everyone.
I don’t have a dog, but if I did, it would be for “B.”
[quote]The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.[/quote]–Samuel Butler bartleby.com/66/48/9448.html
[quote]In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn’t merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.[/quote]–Edward Hoagland bartleby.com/66/70/28370.html
[quote]So they show their relations to me, and I accept them;
They bring me tokens of myself–they evince them plainly in their possession.
I don’t lead a gypsy life style, and where I live has plenty of space. Also, I think most dogs are nicer creatures than most people. I couldn’t imagine not having a dog for any length of time. Here are a few reasons:
[ul]
[li]“You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, ‘My God, you’re RIGHT! I NEVER would’ve thought of that!’” - Dave Barry[/li]
[li]“I love a dog. He does nothing for political reasons.” - Will Rogers[/li]
[li]“Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends.” - Alexander Pope [/li]
[li]“If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.” - cowboy wisdom [/li]
[li]“No man can be condemned for owning a dog. As long as he has a dog, he has a friend; and the poorer he gets, the better friend he has.” - Will Rogers [/li]
[li]“The disposition of noble dogs is to be gentle with people they know and the opposite with those they don’t know…How, then, can the dog be anything other than a lover of learning since it defines what’s its own and what’s alien.” - Plato[/li]
[li]“If you eliminate smoking and gambling, you will be amazed to find that almost all an Englishman’s pleasures can be, and mostly are, shared by his dog.” - George Bernard Shaw [/li]
[li]“All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers is contained in the dog.” - Kafka [/li]
[li]“To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.” - Aldous Huxley [/li]
[li]Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." - Mark Twain[/li]
[li]“I’m a mog. Half man, half dog. I’m my own best friend” - Barf, John Candy (Spaceballs) [/li]
[li]“Qui me amat, amet et canem meum.” (“Love me, love my dog.”) - St. Bernard, A.D. 1150, “Sermo Primus”[/li]
[li]“I was desperate. The swine who stole my dog doesn’t realize what he did to me!” - Hitler, 1917, After a railroad worker in Alsace stole his terrier [/li]
[li]“Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one” - Anonymous[/li][/ul]
With regards to A, I would say that I spend a lot more time competing for attention than I used to. Hey! I’m cute too you know. Talk me too.Rub my tummy!
Funnily enough, I ventured the opinion in a class full of adults last night that all men are basically dogs at heart. We ended up writing a list of canine qualities and debating whether they apply to men too. I think that 10 or so xiaojies re-evaluated their relationships last night. They certainly looked very thoughtful!
We have dogs because they reflect what we really want to be, and help us stay in touch with reality. Do I want to sit here and write an exam for my Junior High kids? Or do I want to go for a long walk in the forest? You guessed it.
The fact that they ‘clean’ themselves by licking themselves is a recommendation for some…
Almas’ question seems to imply that having a dog if you are a foreigner is not a good thing (unless you live on a farm).
The dogs I have had here were all taken off the street. Their life is much richer and healthier having to no longer live on the streets. Our current dog, Homer, gets to run around along the river and sniff up a storm at the park that is about 30 seconds’ walk away. She is, clearly, one happy camper.
In fact, I think to some extent, foreigners have a better idea of how to take care of a dog than the locals do. Sure, some in Taiwan ‘get it,’ but many still don’t. I could give you several examples around where I live of dogs kept either continually or mostly so in cages just big enough to turn around in. I am not saying that the foreigners have something more than simple experience with pets.
By the way, Almas said elsewhere that I thought more of animals than I did of children. My response to that is one of confusion: I always thought children were animals!
Wolf wrote: [quote]By the way, Almas said elsewhere that I thought more of animals than I did of children. My response to that is one of confusion: I always thought children were animals! [/quote]
Actually, I wrote [quote]BTW, sometimes I wonder if Wolf prefers dogs to children.[/quote]
Dogs, not children. But then your remark about children being animals wouldn’t work, would it?
Stragbasher’s idea that men are like (or want to be like) dogs is nonsense. Dogs are dirty creatures which take pleasure in strutting around with their bollocks swinging back and forth; dogs are either sniffing things, ball-scratching, rubbing themselves against things, or chasing pussies.
Who are you gonna take back? Stragbasher or the dog?