editor unleashed
morning to run weird obstacle courses, grab tennis balls or chase a rag at the end of a string, all at the behest of their humans. They don’t do these things to make themselves happy. Dogs do these things to make us happy, and to be near us. I’m sure a dog would walk to the ends of the earth for their human. Some, as innocent accomplices, have fought to the death for their humans. That willingness is what makes a dog
Anna, Zoe, Chloe, Doogie and Rita.
While observing people and their dogs recently, two words came to mind: Willing participants. Take, for instance, a medium sized dog, who willingly sits inside a small basket that is attached to the handlebars of his human’s bicycle. As they glide along the sidewalk, the dog's ears are flapping in the breeze. His face is blissful, and I swear he’s smiling. Another dog at an outdoor cafe is
watching his human devour a salad. The dog waits patiently for something, any- thing to fall to the ground. He knows it will. It happens every time his human sits down to eat, without fail. In the heat of the day, a jogger runs
along the Bay with his willing participant – yep, you guessed it. A dog is happily keeping pace with his human. With a dog, you will never have to
ask twice, “Do you want to go some- where, just to get out of the house?” You will probably never have to wait for a dog to contemplate the answer to your question, “would you like something to eat?” And speaking of eating, your dog will almost never turn her nose up at something you’ve prepared, because she loves anything you prepare for her - even that rolled up piece of peanut buttered bread with the pill inside. Yeah, she knows what you’re doing. Dogs are up for anything. They don’t
just want to have fun; they want to have fun with you. During the 10 years of pub- lishing The New Barker, we have observed thousands of dogs doing incredible things with their humans: A therapy dog, whose presence brings the sparkle back to the eyes of an Alzheimer’s patient. The service dog, who instills confidence in a once- broken veteran. Dogs will get up early on a Saturday
6 THE NEW BARKER
such a special being. Why, then, do so many of them end up abandoned by their humans; left to navigate a hard, often cruel, certainly scary existence? Thousands of “unwanted” dogs are given up by a human, then deemed “unadopt- able” by another human, and euthanized in this country’s shelters every single day. This, in spite of the thousands of animal advocates working on their behalf to pull them from shelters, transport them across country, vet them – all with the hope of giving them a second chance – a life deserving of their goodness. In this issue, you’ll meet a group of
Chesapeake Bay Retriever lovers who bring their willing participants to a Sunday morning dock diving outing. You’ll also meet a man who went to incredible lengths to ensure his Doberman Pinscher, Oliver, was always comfortable. You will meet another man whose passion for life includes a career investigating puppy mills, hoarding cases and death. In our expanded Paw Law section,
we’ll bring you up-to-date on Florida Animal Laws. Hopefully, we’ll answer some questions about whether or not to vaccinate your dog in our Dog Health section. We’re excited to bring you a new feature, Let’s Ask The Trainers, with a group of experts. Over the last 10 years, The New Barker
has donated upwards of $100,000 in money, advertising space, goods and services. Thank you to our advertising partners who have made another issue of this magazine possible. By the way, dogs are also willing
participants in doing absolutely nothing with us. They are perfectly content to snuggle on the couch while we read or grab a nap. They know how close to be during times of sadness, and just how much space to give us during times of stress. In a word, dogs are perfect. U
www.TheNewBarker.com
Photograph by Laura Allen Studios.
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