Dog Days of Aachen

I always wanted a dog in Europe. Ever since I lived in Austria. I'm an animal girl, through and through. I would watch these cute, prancing puppies walking along with their owners and I consoled myself by going home and taking in stray cats and then leaving them with my parents (thanks Mom and Dad).

But now, I'm finally getting the chance to try out my wish. We should all get to try out wishes before we fully commit. That whole "be careful what you wish for" warning wouldn't be nearly as potent.

What I'm discovering is that dog ownership has its charms, for sure. They give you so much warmth and happiness. But I already knew that part. Now I'm getting a chance to face a bit of reality - dog ownership can have some crappy cons. There's a pun intended in there.

On my first walk with Mocha, I proudly led her around the neighborhood, trotting along, la la la. Until she stopped in front of a pretty house, sniffed around the lawn and proceeded to poop in the middle of it. And there I was, cool, temporary dog owner, without any poop bags. I looked about frantically, considering my options. I could only see one way out. Run. But thirteen-year old dogs really don't run. They trot a little, which looks much faster than it actually is. So, in truth, we shuffled back to the house, with me trying hard to look innocent.

One of the definite charms of a dog in Germany is they can go everywhere. She comes with me into Starbucks, into the bank, into the H&M, and no one blinks an eye.

And one thing I must say - get a good looking dog and you'll make friends. People on the street approach me to ask about her or tell me that she has two different colored eyes (maybe I wasn't aware of this?), or ask about her breed. A beautiful dog is a definite conversation piece.

One thing that really smarts, though - and I never thought twice about this before - are the dog owners that don't leash their dogs. More than once has a running-wild-and-free dog charged up to Mocha and started a barking scuffle. And more than once, the owner simply looked at us. This morning, Mocha and I stopped 40 feet away from a man and his dog, waiting patiently for him to leash his beast. As we walked by, the dog barked and growled and strained at his lead. And Mr. Dog Owner said to me accusingly "Wenn er frei waere, wuerd er das nicht machen." Well, let's not find out, shall we?

But it's when we come back and Mocha is dried off from the rain and sleeping lazily near my feet, that I'm once again reminded of the charms of dog ownership.

Thanks to Heather and Mocha for the new experiences.