Dogs Raining (reigning) in My Mind 11

In the course of these stray meditations on dog, I have sensed that there exists a considerable body of scientific literature documenting the salubrious benefits in the relationship between dogs and human beings. Probably a whole library’s worth! I have never read a single word of any study on the subject and never will. This book is my contribution to the field although it contains no science at all except for the oldest kind—the language older than words. When the primate stock that later evolved into human beings stopped swinging from trees and walked upright on the savannas, was a canine-like creature there to accompany him? That study I would read.

One of the more bizarre movies featuring a dog in a prominent role is A Boy and His Dog, a 1975 science fiction film set in a dystopian American wasteland. It is now widely considered a cult classic. The tag line on the movie poster read: “A Rather Kinky Tale of Survival.” And that it was. The movie starred Don Johnson as Vic, a horny teenager searching for women to have sex with, and a telepathic dog named Blood, who assists him in exchange for food. I have seen the movie, once, at some art house theater when I was in my late teens, and recall absolutely nothing from the experience. I did have a friend who became obsessed with the film and memorized virtually every line of Vic’s and Blood’s dialogue. He would go on for hours quoting the most profane statements.

Have you ever wondered why humans don’t carry treats for humans in their pockets? A Bible doesn’t count.

Snoopy wanted to be a hard boiled novelist in the tradition of Hammet, Chandler and Macdonald but it never worked out. Atop his doghouse, cranking away on a typewriter, Snoopy opened many of his failed attempts with this sentence: “It was a dark and stormy night.” I began one of my novels with the same sentence. It had a dog in it, Sonny, and in the novel, she died at the end and went on to become the most famous dog in Oregon literary history. I still want that for her. I find that highly motivating.

I return to this meditation after working on a grant for the sanctuary to fund hospice care for senior dogs, most likely Bonnie and Clyde in the near future. Perhaps I will even administer that care for them. As I wrote the grant, I found myself crying and feeling enormous pressure to succeed. It is the most important writing of my life and I am thankful the sanctuary provided me the opportunity. Writing grants and raising monies to help improve the lives of dogs in sanctuaries and shelters is my dream job. I also wouldn’t mind having a job that through writing, teaching or activism improves the lives of humans confined in human pounds. Maybe there is a way to merge those jobs because, really, it’s all the same job—calling out our humanity and coming to the aid of sentient beings in mortal distress.

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