Dog Fight In Aisle Two
My old editor, who used to work for Gary Larson, warned me of "the crazy cat people," the cat owners who will send piles of angry e-mails and letters if you say make the slightest crack against cats. Well, the dog people aren't as nuts, but they sometimes come close. As Norman wrote:
It's a pity we can't tap into the heat generated on this thread to use as an energy source.
He's talking about one of my Advice Goddess columns I just posted, Man Bites Relationship. A woman writes:
Three months ago, my boyfriend rescued a 2-year-old, 85-pound, neutered dog from a shelter. I have a little 35-pound dog I love dearly. She’s been with me seven years. We wanted to introduce them because we want to build a life together. It didn’t go well. His dog attacked mine both times. I said this should be a no-brainer: If he can’t turn his dog around through training soon, he should get rid of it. He eventually agreed to work with his dog, but over the last month has just gotten more attached to it, and has been reading books that tell him his dog’s “doing nothing wrong.” He finally said I’d have to risk my dog with his one more time, “just to find out.” I can’t do that. Is a brand new dog all it takes for a year-long relationship to get derailed!?--House Broken
Apparently, yes.
My answer and the heat-filled comments are here.
It was out there. But, just to balance things, I wrote about the crazy cat I had for a couple of decades.
Donna
at February 7, 2008 8:21 AM
Amy, you linked to the wrong Norman. (There's so many to choose from!)
Norman
at February 7, 2008 8:33 AM
Oops, sorry - will delink!
Amy Alkon
at February 7, 2008 9:01 AM
with the words "we want to build a life together" seems like you indicate that the most important thing is the 2 humans building a life. Together. Combining dogs with that should be something that is worked on, together. Even if it take s a year... or takes some sacrifice. If the dogs take precedence over the other human, well that happens. Thing is, you have to be truthful, about who's on first, and most people aren't. There may be a reason why he went to a shelter and got his own dog. It may have been an act of balance. In any case you have to decide what is the most important thing, and build from there.
SwissArmyD at February 7, 2008 11:47 AM
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