Columnists :: Dog Lady
Ask Dog LadyWednesday Jun 27, 2012 Readers: Dogs and fireworks are a bad match. Do not take your dog to a fireworks display or a picnic with firecrackers and sparklers. Canines can get spooked by the loud noises and bolt. Make sure your dog has a safe place-a blanket on the floor in a distant closet, for example-to hide out and ride out fireworks displays. It’s a nice idea to want to share Independence Day with your dog but better to leave your pet peacefully alone.
Dear Dog Lady,
I am worried sick about my husband. As I was fretting about this, I saw your column and wondered if you could help. My husband has a virulent kind of asthma triggered by certain breeds of shedding dogs. He can become deathly ill if exposed. But don’t get me wrong, we’re dog lovers and have a poodle, Oscar, of our own.
My husband’s boss, with whom he has a tentative relationship, has a golden retriever and started bringing the dog to the office because the policy changed recently. A golden retriever is a shedding breed that can make my husband start to gasp so when his boss has her dog my husband avoids meetings in her office. As I said, they already have an uncomfortable working relationship, how does he handle this new stressor?
Marylou
Dear Marylou,
Your husband must deal with his boss in a straightforward manner. He should tell her directly about his asthma condition and why he avoids her office when her pet is in residence. If she’s a conscientious professional, she will be attentive to the concerns of her colleagues and leave the dog at home unless she gives fair warning about flying fur - and officially excuses your husband from all meetings in her office.
Dear Dog Lady,
As a small business owner, I recently was looking to hire a counter clerk. I had quite a few applicants, including a woman I was keen to employ. In the second interview, however, she arrived wearing a striking wool vest, which she said she had knitted from the fur of her Bernese mountain dog. This lead to a long discussion of how she collected the sloughed dog hair, sent it away to be spun into yarn and knitted the sweater. It was too much information and kind of disgusted me. I ended up not hiring her and have felt guilty ever since. What’s your take on people who knit with the hair of the dog?
Amy
Dear Amy,
Let’s say you have a sheep for a pet, or a llama, or a goat. How is knitting with these varieties of animal fur any different? OK, very different from an emotional point of view.
Yes, knitting with wool spun from dog’s hair is eccentric and a tiny bit strange. Dog Lady cannot imagine wearing a garment knit from her dog. Still, you must give your applicant points for inventiveness and earth-friendliness. By the way, there are groups of "critter knitters" swapping tips online; an Internet search yields many results.
As a business owner, you have the right to hire whom you choose. In this free country, there are no laws on the books pertaining to people who discriminate against fashionistas who wear dog hair couture to the workplace. You shouldn’t feel guilty.
Dear Dog Lady,
Your answer recently about Mitt Romney and Barack Obama and the issue of dogs in the presidential race sounded like a typical liberal response. You defended Obama’s dog meat eating habits and you showed a lack understanding for why Mitt Romney placed his dog (in a cage) on top of the car (when the family drove to Canada on vacation).
The Romneys did it basically because the dog was not feeling well in the vehicle as many dogs don’t. Therefore its crate (cage) was secured to the top of the car in an effort to give the dog some air, which dogs absolutely love as they point their faces into the rushing wind.
Barry
Dear Barry,
Thank you for offering the above theory about why Mitt Romney strapped his dog in a cage to the roof of the car. Too bad Dog Lady doesn’t buy it. You see, the dear dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, was ill up on the roof not inside the car during the long trip up to Canada. The wind rushing into the dog’s face over hours on the highway caused Seamus to let loose a stream of diarrhea that covered the windshield. The family had to pull over and hose down the car before they could proceed. One of Romney’s sons proudly told this anecdote to the Boston Globe as an example of how expertly his Dad handled the situation. Mopping up after sick puppies could serve Republican Romney well in his run for president.
Regarding President Barack Obama as a canine carnivore in his boyhood, Dog Lady has no excuses. Opposition research digs up many unseemly curiosities. A dinner of dog happens to be one of them.
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