Dog People

I think it's safe to say that I (and especially Ross) am not a dog person. I like dogs, but don't really care to pet them much and I really don't like them jumping up on me. I don't want to smell like dog and I don't want the dog to possibly tear my clothes or scratch my legs with its jumping.

I was reminded of all of this just this morning when I had to go to a meeting at someone's house. I had never been to this house before and didn't know she had a dog. I became keenly aware of this the minute I rang the doorbell and heard the barking dog on the other side of the door. I wish I could tell you my first thought was, "Oh boy, a dog for me and Lucy to play with!" but that was definitely not the case! It was more along the lines of, "Oh crap, she has a dog. That means the dog is going to be barking and jumping up on me and Lucy and get its slobber all over us." Thankfully, only about half of my thoughts came true.

The dog did not stop barking for the first five minutes we were there. I was thoroughly annoyed by this but Lucy didn't seem to mind. She loves animals, so the dog was very exciting to her. I'm usually pretty good at pretending to like dogs like this and humor the dog by petting it, but today I was just not in the mood! I tried to ignore the dog, but it kept staring up at me and barking, as if it knew I was ignoring it on purpose. I finally gave in and gave him a little pet and that seemed to shut him up for a bit, at least until the next person came in the door. 

What probably bothered me the most about the dog wasn't the dog itself, but the fact that the owner didn't do a single thing to calm the dog down. She was completely oblivious to the dog running around barking so much and jumping up on everyone who came in the door. This is what frustrates me the most about dog people - they just don't get that not everyone is as excited about their dog as they are. I realize that most dog people treat their dogs as family, or more so like their children, and that's fine. I can't relate to it at all, but to each his own. What is not fine, though, is their complete oblivion to others disinterest in their dogs! I don't expect people who come to my house to be super excited to see Lucy and constantly play with her and give her attention. I realize that not everyone is a kid person like I'm not a dog person.

Ross and I have had countless conversations about these dog people. It just frustrates us to no end that people don't realize we are not into their dogs like they are. In fact, one time we had dinner at a couple's house who we hardly knew at all. We were going on a church ski trip and carpooling with them so had dinner to get to know them a bit before our trip. No exaggeration - their dog had its head in my lap almost the whole time we were eating dinner. They knew the dog was there but didn't do anything about it.

Oh how I wish dog people would be a little more self-aware and not expect everyone to love their dog as much as they do.