The Happiest Dog on the Planet

There is a Border Collie that visits my job regularly accompanied by a fit man with a biking backpack. A year ago, when I first saw the dog, he was awfully overweight, but seemed to be in good spirits as the fit man tossed an orange cloth frisbee for him to chase down and shake violently, the way dogs do. Fast forward to tonight and this dog is in Much better shape, though still a little husky (badump chump). Wait. That joke doesn't work for Collies, does it? Anyways, here's what I observed tonight.

The fit man walked with the dog over to the travertine steps at the far west end of the Kahn tree garden. He tossed the orange cloth frisbee a few times, removing his backpack and setting up temporary camp on the steps while the dog chased the traffic-cone orange object, taking hold of it and shaking it back in forth in his jaws as though to break its orange cloth neck. Gleefully, the dog would bring it back to the fit man and he'd toss it again until he'd finished setting his stuff down. When the dog returned the frisbee the last time, the man pat the stone next to him and the dog, without hesitation, went around to climb up the steps and joined his human friend on the flat slab. Then they talked for a while.

The man would peer out over the lawn and setting sun, pointing to trees and the moon, remarking things to the dog and the dog would look at the man's fingers, then his face, then the direction he was pointing in. Occasionally, the dog would bark and the man would either pat his head or give him a little treat from his pocket. The dog listened to every word the man had to say. Tilting his head to signify his attention and barking to acknowledge the words he did recognize. After a while, the man stood up and hugged the dog, all the while being licked all over his bald head by the dog who seemed happy to have made him happy.

The man then put his backpack back on and pointed across the street. The dog seemed to understand and stood up, preparing himself for the journey.

They walked off and I felt more jealous of their relationship than any young in-love couple I'd ever seen.

Maybe jealous isn't the word.

Glad that such a bond can exist, perhaps. 

Now, I wonder how the man would tell this story....

"So we're at the museum and I get the strangest feeling that I'm being watched..."