Dogs

Based on 2 months of near daily riding around France I have come to the conclusion that everyone and their mom owns a dog if not 3 or 4. Why the hell is this? I mean yeah, they are cool animals and all but really? I am especially fond of my next door neighbor and their animals. As it currently stands I live on a fairly busy street with a few houses pretty darn close to me. Every evening, without fail at around ten o clock at night the dogs get let out of the house to play for the night. Yes, thats right, they do not believe in fencing to keep these dogs in, they just get to run around all over the place. Well, ten o clock seems like a great time to go to bed but no, I get to listen to these little shits bark all night long. So, these 2 dogs get to barking, and then all the other dogs in listening range want in on some of the action and before long, I have looked at my watch the umpteenth time and its midnight and still barking. I am hoping that its like living by an airport and getting used to sound of airplanes because right now my patience level for dogs is at an all time low.

Along those same lines, how many times have you been to a race in America and spectators bring dogs? Pretty tough to think of it huh, well here it appears that about 4 out of 5 are going to have their dog with them. And, no, its not some big bad ass dog, the dogs have to be the size of a rat and be able to fit in some woman's purse at the same time. I still cannot figure out the French love affair with these tiny little things. And on top of that, having dogs at a bike race never turns out good. I have seen someones dog get loose, cause a pileup in a race because the dog went out on course, dog got injured and the woman who owned the dog was angry at the racers. What the hell? I guess that is what happens when someone grows up in a nanny state, it must never be her fault?

However, the cream of the crop with the love affair here with dogs was a few weeks back. We had just finished a race, and the folks that took me to the race wanted to grab a coffee after race, so off we went. If you are wondering, yes, they have a little tiny dog with them. As a cafe is found, we exit the car, the dog exits with us just like it is a part of the family and here is the best part, joins us in the restaurant for a coffee! What the hell? I cannot fathom this nor can I comprehend the fact that after looking around I noticed countless other furry little dogs.

I am sorry for those dog lovers out there, but I believe that a good general rule of thumb is leave your dog at home, don't take it to business and let it run around and most certainly lock the damn things up at night and keep them under control. If anyone needs another reason, have a look here. Just a few of the casual observations over here.