Althouse: "the dogs were good again this year"

December 31, 2022

"the dogs were good again this year"

33 comments:

Nancy said...: Thank you Ann!; 12/31/22, 4:24 AM
Kevin said...: If you’re looking for a constant thread through American life, I’d go with dogs.; 12/31/22, 6:55 AM
Tank said...: Some people like dogs.; 12/31/22, 7:00 AM
boatbuilder said...: https://t.co/yofljxvhVJ

Joy!; 12/31/22, 7:15 AM
Owen said...: Excellent. I have shown it to our dog and he approves.; 12/31/22, 7:45 AM
William50 said...: Man's best friend.; 12/31/22, 7:50 AM
lonejustice said...: Most dogs are better than most humans.; 12/31/22, 8:08 AM
D.D. Driver said...: Shut up! You're crying.; 12/31/22, 8:14 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: That is special. Thank you.; 12/31/22, 8:42 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: That great Pyrenees (I think it was...) that single-handedly killed 8 coyotes defending a flock needs a presidential medal of freedom or something.

Seriously good boy. Like, get that dog t-bone steaks for life and find some pedigree great Pyrenees females is estrus if you know what I mean to continue his genetic line.

What an awesome dog.; 12/31/22, 9:12 AM
2yellowdogs said...: I'm not crying, you're crying.; 12/31/22, 9:14 AM
Joe Bar said...: Awesome!; 12/31/22, 9:37 AM
Rusty said...: Bittersweet. Mocha our Siberian Husky went west on Dec.20.; 12/31/22, 9:51 AM
Lazarus said...: Wonderful dog videos, but stringing so many of them together makes dogs look a little too clingy and dependent, a little too eager to love and be loved. Cat videos show us a very different animal, one that's more independent and isn't so emotionally bonded to us. We need love, but we don't always like being reminded how much we need it.; 12/31/22, 9:56 AM
Narr said...: I'm laughing and crying. I'll tell me wife about it.

After a while.; 12/31/22, 10:18 AM
Michael K said...: My elderly basset hound, Nicholas, has had colitis since we adopted him but he has now developed diabetes. I have had a quick course in veterinary diabetes care. Medical school helped but that was 50 years ago. He is just as sweet as he has been and doesn't even mind the insulin sticks. Since we figured out the cause and treated it, he has stopped peeing in the house. That was what alerted us that something was wrong.; 12/31/22, 10:56 AM
Temujin said...: We love our dog. After 13 years she has us trained just right.

Sorry for your loss, Rusty. That leaves a hole.; 12/31/22, 11:01 AM
Joe Smith said...: 'Most dogs are better than most humans.'

Exactly.; 12/31/22, 11:12 AM
GrapeApe said...: I love dogs. Wish I could hav a couple but no nearby vet, so no pets.; 12/31/22, 12:53 PM
Lucien said...: Dogs: some people love ‘em.; 12/31/22, 1:26 PM
Saint Croix said...: this is beautiful, Althouse, thank you

(love the music!); 12/31/22, 5:54 PM
Saint Croix said...: Wonderful dog videos, but stringing so many of them together makes dogs look a little too clingy and dependent, a little too eager to love and be loved.

ha ha ha

Our cat/dog wars are brutal. Brutal!

In my family, we all got hot-tempers, so no guns in our house. My mom's like, "I would have shot your Dad a long time ago." I'm like, "I get it, Mom, I get it." So what do we do for security? Well, my parents have alarms and shit. Not me. I have a dog. I don't even lock the door of my apartment. Fuck it. Nobody robs me. You know why? Dog!

Cat videos show us a very different animal, one that's more independent and isn't so emotionally bonded to us. We need love, but we don't always like being reminded how much we need it.

Dog knows he's inferior.

Cat thinks he's superior.

Dog is honest.

Cat is full of shit.; 12/31/22, 6:33 PM
Saint Croix said...: You ever see the movie, War of the Roses? It's a dark comedy (Danny DeVito's funny movie, in my opinion) about a family going through an awful fight and a divorce and ultimately they both die. It's dark but hilarious.

Anyway, he's a dog lover, and she's a cat woman. And they each hate the other pet.

At one point she pretends like she kills his dog. That's how mad she gets. Holy shit. And relax, dog lovers, the dog lives! A lot of dogs die in movies. Hitchcock warned about killing dogs. People get mad about that shit. Even Danny DeVito knows that!; 12/31/22, 6:35 PM
Saint Croix said...: I'm kind of strange in that I hate cats but I love that Catwoman.; 12/31/22, 6:38 PM
Saint Croix said...: I used to be scared of pitbulls when I was younger. Heard the horror stories.

Now I've discovered how needy pitbulls are, how they just want to sit in your lap and be loved.; 12/31/22, 6:51 PM
Old and slow said...: My dog is half Chihuahua half Pit Bull. I did not know this when I adopted him. I thought he was just a little high strung. Well, he is that... . He is 17 lbs of neurosis and intermittent savagery. Lovable little fellow towards those he knows and likes, and he is often bribe-able with crusty bread when he meets new people.But all things considered, I would not recommend this mix. There is nothing he does not fervently believe he can kill.; 12/31/22, 7:42 PM
Old and slow said...: Yes, pit bulls are very needy and lovable, until they are not. I've known many terrific pit bulls. I've also seen good ones turn bad in a very uncontrollable manner and do serious harm. They are simply too strong and prone to extreme aggression to exist safely in society. If my pit bull chihuahua mix was any larger I'd have to kill him. Even at 17 pounds, he is a bad idea. And yes, I do understand where a lot of his personality defects come from.; 12/31/22, 9:23 PM
Gusty Winds said...: That was awesome.; 12/31/22, 9:51 PM
Political Junkie said...: Dogs > cats; 12/31/22, 10:29 PM
Political Junkie said...: Pomeranians rock!; 12/31/22, 10:31 PM
Saint Croix said...: My dog is half Chihuahua half Pit Bull. I did not know this when I adopted him. I thought he was just a little high strung.
Well, he is that... . He is 17 lbs of neurosis and intermittent savagery. Lovable little fellow towards those he knows and likes, and he is often bribe-able with crusty bread when he meets new people.But all things considered, I would not recommend this mix. There is nothing he does not fervently believe he can kill.

Yeah, there's definitely a wider variety in dog DNA than human DNA.

Imagine running into a human being that is 10 times bigger than you!

Dogs do that shit all the time. Cats are all about the same size, I think (not really a cat guy). My glib and superficial understanding of cat physiology is that none of them are bigger than people. (Unless you want to throw panthers and other big cats into the mix).

(Speaking of dog vs. cat, there is a famous dog in South America that killed a mountain lion that was way bigger than him to save two little girls. I want to give that scarred beast a virtual fucking hug).

Anyway, in the dog universe, there is a radical number of breeds, and the sizes are off the charts. An English Mastiff named Zorba has the world record for dog size, hitting over 300 pounds. And the tiniest dog, a Chihuhua, clocked in at 1 pound.

I wouldn't blame either dog for wondering if that other dog even qualifies as a dog. "What the fuck is that thing?" That's not 10 times bigger, it's 300 times bigger. My imagination can't do that math.; 1/1/23, 7:01 AM
Saint Croix said...: My mom tells a funny story about the time my first dog, Scout, a golden retriever, was lying on her couch. I was out of the house, so it was just her (my mom weighs about 110 pounds, I might possibly be minimizing her weight class for my own personal safety) versus Scout (who also weighed 110 pounds, and if you doubt his size, ask any of the Rottweilers he would hump how big he was).

And my dog and my mom had a conflict. If this was a legal case, we would call it Scout v. Mom and put it in the U.S. Reports.

The conflict was simple. Scout was lying on her couch.

My mom was a small dog owner. 10 pound dogs, that's what she was used to. Here she had a dog, who stretched out to almost 6 feet when he stood on his hind legs, which he did all the fucking time, some "I wanna be human" shit, if some scientist wants to advance evolution theory, shoot me an e-mail about my dog on two legs. Where was I?

Oh yeah, my mom -- this is her weapon, she had a weapon -- my mom had a rolled up magazine. And she smacked my dog with it. And my dog, Scout, who once broke up a fistfight between me and my brother by knocking my brother to the ground and standing on top of him, Scout calmly put his paw on her arm and looked deeply into her eyes. And that was enough, she didn't even try to hit him with the magazine again. And from that day forward, her little dogs have been allowed to get on the sofa. And the bed. Because she's fair, you know. But it was Scout who won her heart.; 1/1/23, 7:02 AM
Narr said...: Dogs just want to have fun.

We should pay attention.; 1/1/23, 10:12 AM