"Travails" with Luci

“Charley is no more like a dog than he is like a cat. His perceptions are sharp and delicate and he is a mind-reader. I don’t know if he can read the thoughts of other dogs, but he can read mine. Before a plan is half formed in my own mind, Charley knows about it, and he also knows whether he is to be included in it.
--- Steinbeck

As I drove through Illinois today, I listened to piece on public radio about how silly a slice of the population has become regarding their pets. Paying huge vet bills, for instance, and doing more to eek out a few more months of living than we do for our human loved ones (another place I think needs examination). Now some of these people were actually talking about these measures for cats, which is clearly insane, others were, more understandably, doing it for their dogs (save the hate mail, I like cats too, having paid a large vet bill for a cat I lost custody of years before).

Now Janis and I know we are the sad-to-observe childless middle age couple that dote on their dog as if the chance of a Harvard education was in the balance. And we know we are spending a ton of money to make this move work for Luci. And my sister just did for her sick dog what we would have done, taking it to the dog hospital at Michigan State for a week of miraculous measures (thankfully successful), even though she had to cancel a vacation, and I believe pull her child out of school and put him to work to pay for it (possible exaggeration) . So I listened intently as Dr. Katz, author of "Katz on Dogs" and other books, said how good dogs are at manipulating us. What we see as unconditional love, they see as guaranteeing their next treat.

So I arrive in Columbia, Missouri after a day of driving that included a two mile walk and a pair of frisbee games with Luci. She and I found the Bengal Bar on the edge of the Missouri University campus, and they let us sit down for a beer in their beer garden. Very nice. I then took Luci to the hotel and checked in. I was thinking "I am going to see a lot of this great country on this trip, and Luci will be there for 90% of it; but Imay like to see the other 10% without her." As I left she started barking. I hoped she may settle, so I stopped at the desk and said to call me if she did not. The call came 17 minutes later, the first complaint received. I, of course, was a big baby about this infringement, like the 12 year old who wanted the dog until owning it cost him a trip to Cedar Point, but she had done exactly what Dr. Katz suggested. She behaved in a way that got her what she wanted. And if this mode turns out to be de rigueur, it isn't really a huge deal, as she will sit in the car for an hour if I want to visit a restaurant or bar that doesn't welcome her.

And she is a good dog. In Carthage Illinois, a picture book throwback town deep in corn country not far from the Missouri line, we stopped and played frisbee in a fenced school yard. It worked great and has put me on the look out for school yards since. We found our next one in a depressed and mostly black neighborhood in Columbia, Mo. I am glad to report she had no prejudice to this at all, clearly seeing all school yards as equal. I have to admit I was not quite as good: in Carthage, I thought, "the worst that could happen is the sheriff shows up." In Columbia, I thought, "the worst that could happen is the sheriff is too far away." I was told later in town that may have been a bad neighborhood for me to visit. With a day to reflect, I disagree. I think with Luci as my ambassador, it was a great neighborhood for me to visit.