The Joys of "walking" Buffy

Buffy is cute. I mean c'mon she thinks her reflection in the mirror is another dog:



I’m not saying this to brag but nearly to state the simple fact that like many baby animals Buffy is pretty adorable. There is a biological imperative for baby animals to be cute because if they weren’t, we wouldn’t have the patience or motivation to take care of them. Everything Buffy does from her sneezes to her groans is cute except for those choice moments when she farts when I’m holding her.

Now if you’re walking a puppy (or in Buffy’s case, alternating from walking to carrying the puppy) in a place that has a lot of foot traffic people will take notice of your puppy. I don’t know what it is about puppies, but they engender an array of reactions from people.

More often than not, people are polite, they wait for Buffy to approach them and ask Diana or I to pet them. Whenever you see a dog the best thing to do is wait for the dog to approach you, it’s a lot less intimidating for a dog. As friendly as some dogs are, sometimes they don’t want to be pet by a certain person for some reason and its best to let them feel comfortable on their own terms.

Sometimes puppies just don't feel like saying hi:




Then there’s the whole asking to pet thing. I guess it’s not essential, if Buffy goes up to a person and starts licking their feet and the person pets her it’s fine. Most people when they do this try quickly look at Diana and I to make sure its ok and most of the time it is.

A puppy is like a baby. You would never touch or hold someone’s baby without asking so when people try to pet Buffy when she doesn’t approach them and she isn’t in the mood I get pretty annoyed. People who do this aren’t so much who don’t know better but rather people who claim to be “dog people,” who know SO much about dogs that they feel like they can treat a puppy on the street likes its their own dog. I put “dog people” in quotes because people who do this really are not people who get dogs and respect dog owners. I like to think that I’m really good with kids. Through being a teacher and studying the adolescent mind I have a great understanding of them but that doesn’t mean I can see some cute kid on the street and start hugging them or strike up a conversation without the parent’s approval.

The scariest moment was when a lady who claimed “to love dogs” and be a “dog person” picked up Buffy without asking. First off, this lady could have just stolen Buffy and the other thing is that in this lady’s arms, it’s a lot harder for me to protect Buffy from a traumatic experience. Puppies need to have consistent positive interactions with all kinds of people in order for a puppy to grow to up friendly and secure dog. For example, if a puppy doesn’t have positive interactions with men as a puppy he or she will likely grow up to be a dog who is fearful of men and be more likely to bite one. Like with human children it only takes one bad experiences to emotionally scar a puppy. If someone is petting Buffy in a bad way or approaches her in a way that scares her I can just pick her up and walk away but if someone picks her, it’s a different story. That lady was unbelievable and had REALLY long finger nails [shudder]. Thank God, she handed Buffy over when I asked and that Buffy didn’t seem to mind the experience.

The majority of people are the street are great about wanting to meet Buffy. Often times parents will be walking around with children and the kid will notice Buffy and want to pet her. All the parents I’ve encountered take this as a teachable moment, telling their children how them ask politely if they can pet Buffy and then will teach their children how and where to pet Buffy. It’s really cute to see how exciting this is for little kids.

The other day I was out with Buffy and approaching me was a nurse who was pushing a elderly man in a wheel chair. The man was non-verbal and had significant issues with his motor control. As I approached, the nurse got excited about Buffy. Buffy ran towards the man and so I picked her up so she could meet the nurse and the man. The nurse was great with Buffy and as she petted her, Buffy turned her attention to the man. I brought Buffy a little bit closer to the man and she proceeded to lick his hand. Even though the expression in the man’s face didn’t change you could see the excitement in his eyes. As we walked away, the nurse said thanked us and said that this was the highlight of the man’s week. I got to admit it, that was one of the highlights of my week as well.

And yes, Buffy is a “chick magnet.” Out of all the people who come up and want to meet Buffy, maybe 98% are woman. Once there was a woman almost got hit by a car running across the street to meet Buffy. I don’t totally understand it, I just got to remember that when they are swooning over the cute-ness of Buffy that they aren’t talking about me . . . or are they?