This is Cooper. Isn't he adorable? Yeah, I think so, too. He gets to come live with me next year after my parents move to Mexico. Which will be so much fun, except that he's totally mastered the sad puppy eyes and puppy whimper, and can get me to do basically anything he wants. Which can be very annoying when I want to watch Gilmore Girls and he wants to go for a walk.
So, one Saturday, after spending an hour trying to finish my latest book, I finally gave in to his sad puppy eyes and pathetic puppy whimper and took him out for his daily sniff around the neighborhood. We were walking down the street, sniffing the trees, making sure none of the other neighborhood dogs had marked on Cooper's territory, when a van pulled up to ask directions to a nearby church. (Well, it was actually just outside the neighborhood. They never would have made it past our very own self-appointed traffic cop.) So I stopped and gave them directions, and Cooper, being himself, needed to sniff their tires. Because this was an outsider's car, with outsider's mud and new exciting outsider doggie scents. And as Cooper was still sniffing the tires, and my mouth was still forming the words have a nice day, this car full of lovely church-going people took off (so as not to be late) and ran over my dog while I was still holding the leash. And then, while my dog was still lying in the road, and I was still holding the leash, they backed up and, completely avoiding eye contact, drove away. (This time, they were careful to go around Cooper's body, which was still lying in the road.) And then they were gone, and Cooper was trying to be brave and pick himself up, and I was still holding onto his leash with my mouth open, trying to finish my have a nice day. Maybe they didn't know that it's a law in Texas that if you hit an animal you have to stop and find the owners to notify them. Of course, his owner was standing right there, and clearly knew that her dog had been hit, so I guess there was technically no need to stop. But at least they were on time to church so that they could learn about the good Samaritan and how, while it says we need to treat all men as our neighbors, it never says anything about dogs or any other animals for that matter, no matter how cute or loved-by-their-owners they are.
*Don't worry, although Cooper was limpy and whimpery for a while, he has since made a full recovery.
3 comments:
I was scared for your enduring happiness for a moment there. I thought that picture you posted (good job on posting a picture) might have been the one you posted for a backyard funeral. Glad to hear your dog's ok, and you're not having to shed any tears.
Did Cooper get is walk yesterday?
Yes, Cooper got his walk, and knocked me flat on my face when he tried chasing a jackrabbit. (He gets a little excited sometimes.)
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