I was downtown today. I dropped off Akemi, who was meeting a friend for lunch, and was on my way back from purchasing my 2014 cologne (I change it every year – and location. John Varvatos Vintage is Tokyo, Aramis’ Tuscany Montreal, and the sickening scent of Jean-Paul Hevin’s Le Beau Male will always remind me of that year in Toronto. 2014 is the year of Wood cologne by Dsquared2 that Akemi says smells like cucumber, but likes all the same because cucumber was her go-to snack growing up. Wait. I was talking about something else before this parenthetical tangent. What was it? Oh, yeah!) when I happened upon a tiny french bulldog tied up outside a craft shop. Even though its owner was nowhere in sight, the little gal seemed certain she was due to return any second, eyes fixed expectantly on the shop’s entrance, barely able to sit still she was so excited. I watched as a couple stopped to say hello and snap her picture, then another couple, then a Japanese student carrying a faux pink purse who stopped to pet her, started to leave, thought better of it and returned, pet her some more, started to leave again, returned again, and pet her some more, scanning the area for the dog’s owner before finally moving on. I approached and the dog was super friendly, up on her hind legs, batting me with her front paw, rubbing her forehead into my leg. It had been fifteen minutes since I’d happened upon the poor pooch – and still, no sign of the owner. Not cool. I won’t even leave my dogs unattended in a locked car, or in my backyard despite the fact that it is fenced in, so the prospect of someone leaving their dog unattended on a downtown sidewalk annoyed me greatly. I retreated up the sidewalk where I could keep my eye on things and patiently awaited the owner. Fifteen minutes turned into twenty minutes. Then twenty-five. Then thirty! And, all the while, the dog waited, perking up every time someone stepped out of the shop. Finally, by noon, I had to retreat to a quieter area, across the street, so I could call in to a scheduled conference call – and keep an eye on the dog. Ideally, I’d be sitting back in my nice, quiet car discussing the state of certain projects but, instead, I was out on the street, dog-sitting. Eventually, partway through my call, and well over thirty minutes since I first noticed the dog, the owner finally walked out of the shop, claimed her, and left. If I wasn’t still on the conference call, I would have dashed across the street and said something. Given the number of dogs that go missing, even from the presumably safe confines of their front yards, you would think people would be a little more careful about leaving theirs unattended. I think that, in the future, I’m going to carry around some pre-made messages I can affix to a dog’s collar for situations like the one I just described where I can’t stick around to reprimand. It’ll say: “In the time you were away shopping, I could have stolen your dog. Think about that the next time you choose to leave it unattended.”
On a brighter note, the polls have closed in the voting for the upcoming Book of the Month Club selection and the winner is…
And it wasn’t even close. My vote actually went to Snowblind that came in a distant third. Anyway, our winner…
TERMS OF ENLISTMENT By Marko Kloos
The book will be released January 28th but sources (you know who you are, eager readers) have already picked up digital versions for their kindle – and the early reviews have been strongly positive.
So, to give your slower readers time to prep, our Book of the Month Club discussion on Terms of Enlistment will convene Monday, March 3rd!
In that time, I will undertake to read all seven books in contention for our new and improved BotMC discussion and let you know if we, in my humble opinion, made the right choice.
I don’t understand people like that either, Joe. If your plan is to go shopping in places where you can’t take the dog, then – don’t take the dog. It kind of reminds me of that time that you found the dog wandering in the neighbourhood and when you found the owners and returned him to them, and if I remember right they were a bit irritated and barely gave you the time of day. Urgh.
Regarding the book, I’ll have to get it from Amazon, but thankfully you’re giving us until March since it’s not available in print until the end of Jan. And I’m not buying a Kindle just for reading it. (And I prefer real print, anyway.) Still, I’m looking forward to it!
I completely agree with you, Joe. What kind of brainless idiot leaves their dog unattended on the street these days? Would you tie up your five year old child and go shopping? Then again, some people do leave their kids in cars unattended when the weather is brutal outside. I once had to rescue a three year old from a van with the drivers window down when it was -30 outside. The child didn’t even have her mittens on. I was furious. Idiots! Idiots! Idiots!
Hey, Snowblind was my second choice…
And now I have that Styx song going through my head again.
Agreed. I would NEVER leave my dog tied up outside a store or anywhere else. Poor dog!
@gforce … you can get the free Kindle app reader for Android (and perhaps also available for iOS) and start reading early! I loved this book and I hope everyone else does too.
2cats
I think the tag is a good idea. It might open their eyes to the possibility of their dog being stolen. And it was good of you to keep an eye on that dog.
That precious girl doggie thanks you for watching out for her and so do I.
You are one of them angels to look out over all of us.
Caution…you don’t get accused of tampering with their bow-bow or threatening to steal the dog or worse. If they are kooks enuff to leave the dog like that, who knows what accusations can spew forth.
I wish you could have said something to the owner, although with people like that, it doesn’t really matter what you say. Around here, it’s dogs on toolboxes in the backs of pickups, dogs waiting in the back of pickups/cars while these morons do their grocery shopping and dogs tied up outside restaurants while their owners have a leisurely meal (I kid you not). I used to carry some pre-printed flyers from the ASPCA and would leave them on people’s cars, but I soon realized that I was pissing off the owners and they were taking it out on the dogs (in at least two cases). I’m glad I’m outta this two-horse s**thole next week. We were in Tampa all day, so I had my housekeeper stay at my house until about 1/2 hour before we got back so my dogs wouldn’t be alone. Maybe I go too far the other way (although these little bastards were left alone for an hour yesterday and one of them ate some good books), but at least I know they’re safe and cared for at all times. 😉
It would have been hard for me not to take the dog up the street and wait for the owners reaction before returning it. Perhaps opening the shop door and letting the dog in might have accomplished something. Too bad more businesses are not dog friendly… Will look for the book as soon as it is out in print or I tunes. Much as I love both, I am not ready to shell out for a kindle to read it now… Hope the dog sitting did not distract too much from your call and that it has advanced some of your projects
That’s the nice thing about having cats – you don’t have to cart them around like children. Just leave them home all day – sometimes all weekend – alone, with a bowl of food and water a litter pan, and they’re fine, and there’s no fear of someone calling child protection services on you.
Speaking of cats, my big boy, Julien, has been pestering me for over an hour to come to bed. That’s right, the cat – not Mr. Das – wants me in the bed. 😛 Sometimes he’s content to just cuddle with hubby, but tonight (after Mr. Das went to bed) Julien has been following me around, lovey-rubbing all over me, sitting next to me in the living room while I read, and now he’s on the captain’s bed behind me (my afternoon nappy place!), just waiting for me to join him. I know if I go into the bedroom he will follow, but I am WIDE awake because of the nappy time I took this afternoon with…ya know…Julien. He’s a nap ho. 🙂
So I think instead of going into the bedroom where I know I’ll just toss and turn, I’ll join Julien and pop in an old movie or something. Sometimes the only way I can fall asleep is to watch something I either really want to watch, or watch something I’ve seen a million times already. I think I’ll go with a bit of both and watch Charlie Chan’s Murder Cruise – I’ve seen it a million times, but haven’t watched it in a while so I really want to see it…now THAT should do the trick! 🙂 (If not, I’ll be back in about an hour whining about how I can’t get to sleep. 😛 )
das
That was supposed to be ‘water AND a litter pan’ – maybe I’m more tired than I realize…
das
@dasndanger: I’m with you. Cats rule . . . literally! I do not understand the need for dog owners to take their dogs with them everywhere they go. Sure, if you’re going somewhere dog friendly then take them along but if you have to leave them in the car or tied to a post while you get on with other things then you’re not doing the dog any favours. You should have just left them at home.
Joe, you are a certified Doggie Angel. Poor little thing, maybe she’d get a better home if she were taken.
I agree about the cats… I prefer to have someone in the house to keep them company if it is more than a few days, but I’ve had dismal luck with housesitters. I’m worried about an upcoming trip; my neighbor usually runs over to feed the girl cats daily, but she hurt her back and my stairs are treacherous. That doesn’t leave me a lot of options. I hope the nice little kid is available, and his religious parents don’t mind him caring for pagan pets (yeah, that’s a thing here). At least he won’t drink my booze or leave my kitchen a disaster, or trash my bedroom with snacks, dirty socks and Monster cans. Or break my couch while having a party. Argh.
I voted for snowblind also, well I will probably order it when I order Terms, just because. Thanks for the new reads. I picked up Life after Life the other day, looked interesting.
I am with Deni, down here (FL) when they are not bringing their pets into Lowes and Home Depot, or groceries, they do leave them in cars, and it gets darn hot, not safe for man or beast. Like Forrest says, stupid is as stupid does. but my fav is life is like a box of chocolates,,wait how did I get onto talking about chocolate,,hmm, guess its the blog. thanks Joe.
~glad Patricia is doing better, sorry no help for the dry mouth.
~deni, good luck on the moving.
What a total asshat! I would NEVER leave my dog unattended. We don’t even like to leave her home alone when we go out.
When I take her for rides in my Jeep during the summer with the top down, if I make a stop, one of us always stays in the Jeep. I could not even fathom someone walking away with her. And to think I could have prevented it would absolutely crush me.
7 billion people in the world and 99% of them are stupid. Present company excluded of course.
I’m glad that little pup had an eye on her. Skip the note and instead call the police non-emergency line; they’ll send a patrolman to cite the owner. That way if they abandon their pet again there’ll be a paper trail the court can use to take their pet away permanently.
Good thing we have a holiday coming up, I can chill with Terms this weekend.
That pup story is so sad. Even my alcoholic, ex-con BIL doesn’t leave his pets tied up while he shops! He took turns with his friend and waited outside with the dog when he visited us (the cats would have gone crazy). Thanks for looking out for the poor thing. I’ve seen so much worse though. 🙁 Your pups are soooo lucky! Is Jelly better?
I was thinking of buying Snowblind next. I liked both Work Done for Hire and Terms of Enlistment.
gforce: I don’t have a kindle either but I read Kindle books on my iPad or my Windows phone. Amazon apps cover several OS’s.
Got Kindle for my iPad. Just picked up Terms of Enlistment! Now to go find time to read all the books I’ve threatened to devour!
A lot of dogs tied up outside stores or whatever are so well behaved, I’ve seen a few of all different sizes and they happily just sit there and wait for their owner. I remember ages back seeing a really big dog with its owner playing fetch, and the dog zooming past, it looked so happy. While I’m not a dog fan per say it does make me happy to see animals happy lol
I think you should absolutely do that (the card). I am with you. I don’t let my dog out of my sight in my own fenced yard. I could with Maddie because she would just go to the bathroom and come right back in and if she didn’t I was out there checking to see what was up. With Boomer I just cannot. He is a digger.