During a gully washer of a rain storm the other day, I holed up with Shelby, my 4 year old black Labrador Retriever, and we talked about a lot of things, that is, I talked a lot and she mostly listened. I’ve been fortunate to have had a lot of canine companions in my life, and I’ve never failed to be impressed with their intelligence. Maybe not like ours, but a certain street smart intuition and understanding of things about which we are clueless.
We talked about alot of things that day, reminiscing mostly about our recent visit to the mountains. She seemed especially happy about her time swimming and running in the woods, something she misses here on St. Simons. I came away thinking about how she adapts to different people and locations and the importance of routine in her everyday life. For her, it is paramount that things in her life are predictable and that other dogs and people are trustworthy, that she has a safe place, food and water and shelter. Her interaction with strangers is most telling; she knows immediately whether the person is friendly or poses a threat. In this regard she and her canine companions trump human intelligence.
The experience made me think about dogs and our convoluted politics today. If dogs could vote, I don’t believe for a minute that Donald Trump would be president and the MAGA crooks would be running our government. I know for sure that Shelby would never feel comfortable with Trump. She’d smell trouble right away and give him a wide berth. Can you picture Trump coming into a room and even recognizing a dog, much less stoop to pet or ask about it? Watch him sometime when he walks into a room with his cabinet or other officials; the body language is all about him, with little feints of attention given out like party favors. Shelby would quickly move to the other side of the room.
Which makes me ask why some of my close friends were so naive, ill-informed or without self-respect that they voted for Trump. Why did they not see Trump for what he is, a narcissistic con man out for himself with absolutely no regard for anyone else?
Even more troublesome is that my dog, any dog, heralded for their unconditional loyalty, would stop snuggling up to someone who repeatedly abused them. Think about it.
Woof, woof!