After the great victory, Vincent and I were talking about Obama’s various proposals, what he’d realistically be able to do, what the priorities should be… The usual. I then made the mistake of saying that I couldn’t wait to find out about what kind of dog the First Girlies would be getting.
This prompted major eye-rolling on Vincent’s part. He’s always saying we Americans care more about our pets than we do about people. Maybe. I told him that the First Pet is important to Americans. I never really thought about why, though. Maybe it’s that having a pet humanizes the president, which is obviously something Americans need more than the French, who seem to prefer that their leaders remain securely atop pedestals ensconced within ivory towers. (One reason why they have such a problem with Ségolène Royal if you ask me. She’s too real for them. But we think she rocks.)
Of course, then there was Obama’s press conference, during which we got a hint. Vincent was baffled by the whole hypoallergenic dog thing, never having heard of such a concept, not surprisingly. (The French are just not as clinical about things as we are.) He expressed his bafflement, and I said poodles were considered hypoallergenic because they didn’t shed, but that I didn’t know of any other breeds that were.
It appears the French are also curious about the dog, although some of the snooty intellectuals are ridiculing this plebeian obsession with the next Dog of the Free World.
I am a dog person. Cats are immensely cool, and I’d get a kick out of having one (except that they walk on your kitchen counters, and I have an all-American hygiene issue). I love the lolcats. But I am not a cat person.
I grew up with dogs. Poodles, to be precise (my poodle history). I had a beautiful (rescued) redbone coonhound the last few years I was married, but I lost him in my divorce. Broke my heart, but my escape entailed serious residential downsizing and Virgil had to stay where he would have a yard. He was a big boy (80 pounds of pure love).
Since then, I’ve had to get my dog fix in other ways. When I became single, I moved a block away from Dog Beach in San Diego, so I could surround myself with other people’s dogs and revel in their surf-and-frisbee frenzy. There’s a dog in the novel I’m writing. Sassy used to post regular Yuki news, but she has major stuff going on, so I have to do without for now. However, my pal La Belette Rouge is on the verge of becoming a dog mom it seems. I’m looking forward to that.
Paris is crawling with Yorkies, Jack Russells and Bichons. Those seem to be the hot breeds of the bourgeois. Designer dogs to go with their designer clothes. I can walk to pet-store row (over by the Louvre) in 10 minutes, and I do, every now and then for a dose of dog. But it can be depressing too. (There I go again.) I would never buy a dog from a breeder or pet store. (Bumper sticker brainwashing: Don’t breed or buy while shelter dogs die.)
According to the Humane Society, six to eight million dogs enter shelters each year in the US and about half of them are gassed.
Not acceptable.
A few months ago, I started seriously thinking about getting a dog and cruising the shelter pages here in Paris. They don’t make it easy for you to adopt dogs here. Shelters are far outside of the city and since I, like most Parisians, don’t have a car, that limits my options. But I’ll find a way when the time comes. I’ve browsed craigslist and kijiji a few times in search of dogs, but it’s incredibly time consuming and a major pain in the ass.
There are so many ways to keep dogs from being disposed of like used Kleenex if you can’t adopt one yourself. You can make contributions to your local shelter, or volunteer. You could buy a sexy calendar from Pinups for Pups…
Miss September, Angela Ryan, and Ella—who was rescued.
Recently, there was a geek contest called Rails Rumble 2008, which is a challenge for developers to create an application using Ruby on Rails in 48 hours. One of the resulting applications from this year’s Rumble is called Forever Home. I think it’s brilliant. Incredibly clean, simple and attractive user interface. And for a good cause.
I went to the site and entered my old zip code in San Diego (it only works for the US and Canada at the moment) and there were 79 pages of dogs that need homes (it only works for dogs right now too). If you’re looking for a dog, that’s exciting. (But when I think that many, if not most of these people impulsively and frivolously got dogs to begin with, it really pisses me off.)
Our dear Polly of Polly-Vous Français ? is leaving Paris for a time. (She’ll be back, I’m certain of it.) But for now, she has to find a home for Lou-Lou, her goldfish. If only Lou-Lou were a dog… Polly has some fabulous stuff she needs to unload, so if you live in Paris, take a look at this site and help Polly purge. Don’t wait! She’s leaving this month!
I know you know this, people are not at all ambivalent about poodles. It is either a love or hate thing. I have never met anyone who felt that poodles were o.k. My mother’s only dog was a black standard poodle named Martini. As my my mother and I have “issues” I have taken to disliking poodles in the abstract. That said, whenever I meet a poodle in particular I always fall in love.
I do love cruising the pet stores on pet store row in Paris. But, I would NEVER buy a pet store pet. I found my would be girl on Petfinder.com. It is a great site that lists all the shelter dogs across the U.S. I spent HOURS there looking for the perfect love connection.
I so hope you get a dog too. It would be fun to be new puppy parents together.
We turned in our application to the the Westie Rescue Society and hope that we are approved to give this beautiful girl a good home. As soon as we get the green light to get her I am going to be looking for good names so I will be turning to you in hopes of suggestions. I feel certain you would have wonderful ideas. And, once I get her you can count on me to post frequently about my furry beloved.
And, I am so with you on the Obama watch. I am obsessed and so very happy to watch the news these days and that is a huge change.
OK, I was just thinking the other day that some Yuki pics & update might be in order… you’ve convinced me ! By the way, I was suprised to find that the French you know don’t seem to be concerned with which dogs are hypoallergenic… maybe it’s different in Paris, but here it is quite relevant for a lot of people. (Maltese, by the way, are…)
I was wondering as well what the new first puppy would be. My husband thinks I’m silly, but I guess it’s just another cultural difference…
Hi La Belette.
I didn’t comment on your blog about little miss thing because there were a million comments saying she was adorable, which is what I would have said too. I’m happy for you!
I will send her a chewy baguette: http://www.francophilia.com/viewPhoto.php?fileID=320
That Forever Home app actually pulls its dogs from Petfinder! I thought it was cool of them to share their data with the developers for their app.
The shelters here are on this page: http://www.30millionsdamis.fr/, but they don’t even have e-mails… You have to call them. How prehistoric! And not only that, they don’t have maps or instructions on how to take the train there… They need some help. Somebody oughtta tell them these things would help them find homes for their dogs.
I will probably get a dog next year. This doglessness just can’t go on!
And yes, it’s great not to cringe and feel the need to vomit when the fearless leader comes on TV. Ahhhhh, what a relief.
Thank you Sassy! I can’t wait! She’s so photogenic. My mom had a maltese, Bonnie, sweet as could be.
Well, the French I know are petless or cat people or not allergic (as far as I know), so that could explain it!
What I like best is watching a big american action movie with my adorable american chérie, and watch people blow up, good guys blow bad guy brains, blood spatters, bombs explode.
Business as usual. Pass the pop-corn.
But then, should somebody step on a poor doggy’s paw, or just give it cat food by mistake, then my chérie will jump out of the couch in protest and outrage.
It never ceases to amaze me. :)
Slight exaggeration.
About dogs and french Presidents, it could good for us, French people, to remember ” Baltique” it was Mitterand’s pet… Sumo, Chirac ones… Maybe dogs and cats control the planet ?
It’s funny you should say that, Marc, because I said to Vincent last night that I wondered whether we’d domesticated dogs and cats or whether they’d domesticated us!
He said he thought cats had domesticated us, but that we had domesticated dogs. It sounds about right.
Few years ago, i have read a book, “City”, by Clifford D.Sinak.. in this book dogs control the planet.
Marc
I have given your brilliant blog an award. Come on over.:-)
Merci Marc, I will try to find the book!
Thanks La Belette!
It is seldom that I take (find) the time to “blog” on a subject, however, since I am a hardcore animal lover with special and intense love for cats, I have to say a little something here.
When Vincent wrote that he loves to watch American action movies where people are blown up but, should someone step on a doggy paw, well that elicits a reaction from his “adorable american chérie.”
Ironic, but why is that a surprise? If they want to, humans can talk and reason with each other. If they chose not to and someone gets hurt (or as is the case the movies, blown up), well that is a terrible shame, should be unnecessary, and it is painful to see the resulting human suffering.
BUT animals, especially domesticated animals, are for the most part unconditionally trusting and loving, and dependent on humans. They do not expect to be hurt in any way by us–just loved. So, when any animal, even non-domesticated animals, are hurt it seems far more sad and offensive. It does elicit a much stronger feeling in me.
Perhaps we do love animals more than humans, but perhaps it is just a different kind of love. One of the different Greek loves perhaps…Storge for “affection”?? I don’t know, but I do know that the vulnerability I see in animals is a different kind of vulnerablity than humans have and elicits it a different, and more intense response. But then, I was raised by a German mother who always said to me that any human who does not like animals most likely doesn’t really like humans that much either.
Hi Marlene.
I know what you mean, and I usually make these same points when I try to explain people’s (and my) reactions to animals getting hurt. It all boils down to that line from the Carpenters’ song, “Bless the beasts and the children, for in this world they have no voice, they have no choice.”
But I know it’s not the same in every culture. In this case, for once, I’d rather be American.