COMMENTARY: Reflections On A Dead Dog

The moderate-conservative Republican commentator writes about childhood experiences owning a dog: "So I always wonder if people who baby their animals or who actually love them are indulging human feelings rather than animal instincts. You know the old expression - the more people I meet, the more I love my dogs. That's devolution. Dogs in their social role, I think, should remind us of base instincts. At the very least the expression 'die like a dog' should remind us of the distance between civil men and dumb animals. And so dogs should continue to die like dogs whereas humans never should. Every inch of respect that goes to dogs, I think comes out of our respect for humanity. Dog health care? Dog diets? I can't do it. I have a lot of 'hood feelings associated with dogs. I never understood how there could be such a thing as an 'inside dog'. It never seemed right to me. The right dog always seem to me do be a hunting dog, a mountain hiking dog, a dog that chased cats, not a dog that would roll over or shake hands. The perfect dog to me was a police dog, a trained German Shepherd."

He continues: "It has been more than 20 years since I've had a dog. I think about it from time to time. What kind I should get - what's right for my personality. I don't know if I'm capable of thinking about life with a dog as an adult. Amy at work has one. A little tiny one, smaller than a football. It's got the nerve to bark and somehow it just doesn't register as a dog in my heart. Cognitively I know it, I recognize the motions and behaviors. I know how it plays, how it explores, what its emotions are. I know dog. I am drawn to its dogness, repelled by its tiny stature, its irresistible cuteness. I want to give it to my 10 year old daughter, the one who loves the planet. I want to see how far I could kick it. I refuse to let it lick my face. I'd rather have a cat. I'm a dog wrestler. I like dogs who can pull me on a skateboard. I like the dog who leaps to attention at the sound. I hate dumb dogs, unless they are big old lazy dumb dogs."

My response: In my mostly middle-class universe, I know very, very few black folks who own or have owned dogs. Perhaps this is a regional thing. I thought dog owning was the province of white folks (who take dog loving to an extreme, to the amusement of many black folks) and ghetto/barrio black and Latino folks trying to protect their territory.