Hang Up

. . . And Pay Attention to Your Dog!

WARNING: I feel a rant coming on!

Don't get me wrong, I love my cell phone. I'm on it all the time checking Facebook, reading email and taking awesome pictures of my dogs. In fact, I'm using it to write my blog right now! But I know when to put the phone down. I always turn it off in the movie theater and I leave it in my purse when spending time with friends, family and yes, even my dog. I feel that those who are willing to spend some face time with me deserve my undivided attention. In the past 24 hours I've seen three separate people who obviously think differently.

• Yesterday I saw a woman walking her dog. She was too busy talking on her cell phone to notice that the dog had stopped to poop. The woman dragged the poor squatting dog about 6 feet before she realized what was going on. Instead of apologizing, she scolded her dog. And I'm sure that if I hadn't been right there, she wouldn't have picked up the poop either.
• This morning a woman was throwing a ball into the surf for her dog. Here, dogs are allowed to play off leash as long as both dog and owner are in the water. However, this woman was too engrossed in her phone conversation to realize that her dog had ran behind her and up into the dunes to chase a dog being walked on leash. And apparently Chatty Cathy couldn't hear the other woman screaming as she tried to drag her not-so-friendly dog off the beach. Fortunately, I was paying attention and was able to step in before a dog fight ensued. And yes, I had Ms. Cathy hang up so I could write her a ticket.
• This afternoon a man brought his black lab to the dog park. The dog was so excited that I could hear him barking long before the car pulled into the lot. As soon as the pair walked through the gate the man turned his back to the dog and put his cell phone to his ear. He completely ignored the tennis ball in his other hand, and sternly shushed the dog for barking to remind him. The dejected look on the dog's face nearly broke my heart.

Think about this the next time you're out. Your dog wants nothing more than to spend quality time with you -- why can't you give it to him? What is so pressing that it can't wait a few minutes? Who is so important that they can't leave a message on your voicemail? Ask yourself, would your dog's answers be the same if it were the other way around? You know they wouldn't, so put away your phone and pay attention to the dog!

OK, rant is over. Please return to your regularly scheduled program. -- K