Dogs in Dallas

Our baby is now 7, as you know. I have such mixed feelings about her life here. She couldn't be happier having a backyard, even though we haven't let her go swimming in months. And I don't think she misses all the walks she got in nyc. But I spent the past few days looking for another dog sitter which of course makes me question everything about dogs and dog parenting.

We're still not kennel people and I doubt we ever will be. The one time we boarded Meadow in a facility, it was the kind of place where the dogs played all day inside in day care and then slept in a crate at night. Well Mead was about 7 months old and completely and confidently housetrained and she didn't want to go inside and ended up with a UTI. Ever since then, she's stayed at people's houses, whether they be paid dog sitters or our friends. She passed today's interview with a sitter who really liked her and thinks she'll get along great with her standard poodle.

I really feel like so many people I've come across in casual conversation here have different views on dogs than we do. Looking at craigslist (which is generally a good resource for insight into a lot of things) for pet sitters showed me that people really sell their dogs for money, and I mean dogs of all ages and prices. Why would you bother selling a dog for $10? And a lot of people also keep their dogs outside all the time. I imagine people in other places do this too and it is not Dallas specific, but it's certainly not something we came across in a highrise. I can't tell you how many times I've been woken up by a dog barking outside our window at 1 or 2 or 3 am! And I generally don't sleep well so this really pisses me off, even more than the piles the dog leaves. I've been trying to figure out if we can borrow a motion activated camera from somewhere...

So today I took my car in to be serviced at one of the local Volvo places. The guy who helped me was one of the service manager people (it's a big dealership) and he starts talking to me about his labrador retrievers. He even shows me pictures of his newest litter of adorable chocolate puppies. Does he show his dogs? No. Does he train his dogs for hunting or agility? No. So why does this guy "breed" dogs? I kept my mouth shut, which I'm trying to learn to do more and more. But I can't even begin to explain how disturbing I found this guy and his choice to "breed" dogs. I decided I would never go to this guy again, and even using this dealer again is questionable, though obviously it's not something that takes place at the shop.

Last week we had a wonderful playdate with a family who has the sweetest lab they got from a rescue organization. All I could think was there are rescue organizations full of labs and shelters full of dogs because people like this guy encouraged dogs to reproduce for the human's profit. Yes this is a soapbox and yes I'm biased. But I feel like I run into so many more people here whose ideas are not just foreign, but completely against what I think is fair and just. Yet the culture here discourages people from speaking up. I don't expect people to share my passions for child and animal welfare, but at what point is it okay to speak up in this strange place where they call me "ma'am" and not care if I offend people?