Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
‘Don’t Touch My Dog!’
This morning on my walk, I felt as if I’d been slapped.
Early mornings I love to greet the regular walkers on my route. I also wave at people in their cars, and many of them wave back with big smiles. Those smiles mean a lot to me as we navigate appropriate behavior during this wretched virus time.
Anyway, many of the walkers have dogs. Sometimes I pet them, at other times the dogs are too busy sniffing in the grass to give me the time of day. There is one fellow who walks one of the most beautiful German shepherds that I’ve ever seen. He has the gentlest temperament: you have to show most dogs your hand before you scratch them to avoid startling them. Somehow Gunner senses when you are reaching to scratch his head and just soaks up all the affection.
This morning I was going to scratch his ears since he actually turned toward me. Suddenly his owner, a nice fellow most of the time, said, oh no, don’t touch him! Not as long as this virus is with us.
Naturally, I quickly pulled back, startled by his reaction. I have mixed feelings about his comment. I don’t own, can’t own a dog due to my husband’s sensitivity to dog dander. And I know his reaction wasn’t personal since he has always been friendly in the past.
My reaction was two-fold. First, I would never jeopardize the safety of any dog or his owner. Most of the data is inconclusive about whether animals can catch or pass on the virus. And a childish part of me felt hurt. But my reaction had a second aspect: our lives are changing and will continue to be altered by this mysterious virus in surprising and disappointing ways.
I’m so tired of all of it. How long will we feel we need to take special precautions regarding this illness? How will our relationships and intimacy be affected by those we care about and love? Will restrictions become even more limiting, or will they gradually be relaxed? Will people get tired of restricting their lives in so many ways and start to act normally? Will it matter if the virus morphs into a less insidious illness so that people might feel less threatened? Are we simply all afraid of dying?
Will life ever seem normal again?
For now, I will resign myself to refraining from getting my “dog fixes.”
It makes me sad.
Published in General
I think the masks outside of the doctor’s office are mostly useless. But the politicians will keep the restrictions on indefinitely unless we rebel. Just as TSA hassles people without providing safety, COVIT provides meaningless virtue signaling opportunities.
I don’t think your reaction was childish – a person you’ve been cordial with was brusk and not cordial out of the blue. I’d have been embarrassed and put off, disinclined to say hi next time. But I probably would because of the sweet pup. I’d just say Ok to say Hi to your dog? the next time, as I do with other dogs I don’t know. Or not, because he’s set a boundary and who knows when he might or might not take it off. See if he makes eye contact next time. Maybe he’s embarrassed too. I am a sucker for a cute pup who looks like they would like a hello. So – maybe a small interaction but unsettling.
I too am pretty fed up with what seems to me to be artificial and arbitrary boundaries and protocols not established by and for the benefit of the truly affected. And it’s led to wide ranging misinformation and misapprehension and it seems to me unnecessary fear. I also think it’s led to a wholly misguided belief that others can guarantee one’s “safety” in any given circumstance.
I’m sorry your nice morning was broken up – it’s surprising how the unexpected can become disproportionate.
If we start referring to masks as muzzles, maybe people will demand we finally drop all the requirements to wear them. Let businesses decide . . .
BTW, I was far enough away from the fellow, and he doesn’t wear a mask when he walks. We have to fight this at some point!
I think you’re right–I was embarrassed too, @eodmom. I think I’ll probably greet him and even say hi to the dog. I suspect he might feel funny about his reaction, too. We’re all doing the best we can–I’ll be better prepared if there’s a next time with another dog!
Sounds like he had just found out that dogs can be carriers. Cats, too, apparently.
I think part of my reaction, too, is that some dogs have personalities; I probably wouldn’t care too much if someone with a dull dog called me off. But Gunner is special. Sigh.
Dogs are wonderful animals, and not all owners are deserving of them.
Sadly masks are now virtue markers. Masked you are on the side of angels and a good person. Unmasked you are an evil Trump supporter.
The information I’ve seen says they don’t know one way or another. If anyone has seen conclusive information, I’d love the reference.
I remember saying to you around Easter @susanquinn about how I was able to be philosophical about the lockdown then, but if I wasn’t able to go on my holiday in June it would be a different story. Yep. I should be in Bulgaria now. Grrrrr.
When was the last time you got the flu and wondered, “now, where/how did I get that?!” We bathe in a world of viruses and bacteria. Our immune systems deal with it all the time. Yes, for some number of individuals getting COVID-19 is a very bad thing. And yet we have suspended the calculation of odds and adopted extreme behaviors.
Initially that made sense due to a lack of knowledge about what we might be facing with this disease. But we know enough now to live more sensibly and in line with how we accept all other risks attendant to living. This media insistence in reporting “new cases” is maddening. Yes, a lot of people are getting the virus, but relative to all other harms the disease itself is doing not much more damage to society than other ailments. But our reaction most assuredly is.
I’m so sorry, @MarjorieReynolds. So many lives have been turned upside-down.
Double Like.
I think that the masks interfere with some peoples’ oxygen intake and some of their brains can’t keep up anymore.
Ah, so that explains those moments when I go brain dead. Except I rarely wear a mask. Oh well . . . .
I think it dates back to the reports in April that began with the tigers at the Bronx Zoo reportedly testing positive for COVID-19, followed by stories of dogs and cats supposedly contracting it. But really, from late April on it has not been in the news, so I don’t know why he would get protective now, if there haven’t been reports of pet owners with animals dead from coronavirus all over the place.
(I suppose if you had been possessed with the anticipation of a Harpo Marx or a Bugs Bunny to have exactly the right thing on hand for that particular situation, you could have pulled out a bottle of hand sanitizer from you pocket when the dog’s owner got defensive, applied it and then asked if it was now OK to pet his canine.)
Oh! That is so tempting!! I’ll have to think it over, @jon1979. Regarding animals and contagion, the CDC says it is rare, but for some people, “rare” is still dangerous.
That’s true for me @percival!
Well if that’s the worst thing that happens to me I’ve nothing to complain about. I had planned on bringing my niece to Poland at the end of the summer as her birthday present but that’s doubtful now.
It’s that specificity that encourages confidence.
You’re doing fine.
I don’t know, there’s a certain segment of society that calling them that might encourage their use.
Oh, and then of course there will be calls from the left for use of them on the right.
I saw this article briefly cross the News Feed on Yahoo Saturday night. (It’s interesting that it has disappeared for the moment, and it’s taken me thirty minutes to find it again today–but then it tells a story about just the effects of lockdown itself, rather than the virus, so it’s probably not news that the Internet controllers want to see taken up for discussion today.) At any rate:
There but for the grace of G-d go we. What’s happening now in South America is what I feared would happen here, but it did not. That’s because millions of Americans heard the news about the lockdowns and the virus, and they kept going in spite of those stories. One of my favorite businesses, King Arthur Flour (an employee-owned company) took myriad steps to reshape their businesses overnight because they knew that their employees and customers depended on them. The executives created new workarounds for everything they usually do. The intelligence on display in the world of American business this past winter and spring is a story that needs to be told. It is awesome and heroic because of the liability risks involved.
What is different today from two months ago is that we have a body of knowledge of success in preventing a great deal of the person-to-person transmission of the virus.
All that said, my daughter-the-veterinarian has been concerned for two months now that the virus is showing up in dogs. That’s alarming scientists, she said, not because of the animal’s health as much as because this path is almost never taken by viruses. She is visiting this coming weekend, and I’ll ask her to elaborate on this. I know my daughter would be in favor of the dog owner’s reaction to his dog’s being petted. I wouldn’t take it personally. It’s a new unknown in veterinarian world, and they don’t want it to spread among dogs. And they don’t want it to mutate in the canine world and then bounce back to the human world.
I would like to know her thought on this, especially if she knows of evidence that it’s happening. Thanks, @marcin.
Just as an added note to comment 24: Since the moment I first started reading about the covid-19 virus, the descriptions of it reminded me of kennel cough. I’ve been thinking that we should be looking at that as a prevention model. It’s basically the same thing that is happening with covid-19.
More to talk about with my daughter this weekend. She’s coming to the Cape from New York, and she is a little more relaxed than she was last spring, but she is keeping her distance. It will be interesting to see how this visit goes. I think we will shouting at each other from six feet away at all times.
It might be. There is a difference of opinion on it. But there’s some evidence that it is. My daughter was concerned about this “leap” a couple of months ago. I will ask her. :-)
I’m pretty sure the veterinarians are being cautious about the virus for now until they know for sure what’s going on with it.
“Hey, why isn’t your doggo wearing a mask?”
You know the fellow and the dog, and you were there, but…maybe he was having the worst day ever, or had just heard a report of animals spreading the virus, or one of his friends had just been diagnosed, or…etc.
His reaction probably had very little to do with you. I would advise not to take it personally. Give the fellow a cordial but brief greeting the next you see him and keep a polite distance. He might take the opportunity to make nice.
Two options: poodle; new husband.