Ashleykins, my dear bitch

It rained quite hard last night. It’s unlikely on a summer night, but since there’s La Niña, I guess it wasn’t a surprise after all. Anyway, the downpour was very much welcome. It rained so hard that even our dogs, Bruno & Ashley (father and daughter actually), were dripping wet on their respective places in the garage in just a few minutes. Kuya Dennis had to set them free for the night. Nakatali lang kasi sila eh.

Ashley is a 6-month old Labrador. Pero ang bigat at napakaharot niya! She would constantly jump at you, as if outright taunting you, so you’d play with her. Letting her loose the whole night is a recipe for havoc. I was worried for all the slippers, rags and what-have-yous lying around. Ashley would never spare them. And I was right. So there, she was making a lot of noise at the terrace beside my bedroom so I checker her out. Here’s what I saw.

As if she’d understand, I reprimanded her, “Hala Ashley, nagkalat ka… tsk, tsk, lagot ka…” Here’s her reaction.

O diba, there’s no remorse at all in her face? Bruno was speechless at what his daughter has done, haha! Habang nagtitinginan kami ni Ashley, may naisip ako. Bakit kapag ang alagang aso mo, may ginawang kasalanan, hindi mo magawang magalit nang lubusan. I mean, oo sige, you would probably hit the poor dog with whatever you could get your hands on. With matching sermon pa iyun, “Walanghiya ka, bakit mo sinira tong Havaianas ko?! Hindi mo ba alam kung gaano kamahal to? Son of a bitch ka talaga!” But it’s not like your dog’s gonna cry, diba. It’ll just run away. And then, you’ll find yourself playing with your dog again, as if no major wrongdoing has been done just a few moments ago. It’s so easy to forgive your dogs. Just one look at their cute faces, one lick from them, a few tail wags and all that anger will flush away. Sana ganoon din sa tao. Sana ganoon din kadali magpatawad ng kapwa mo tao. The world would’ve be a much better place, don’t you think?

Anyway, while I was trying to salvage what I could from the mess that Ashley made, she still managed to play with yet another rag. Napatawa na lang ako. O diba, kung sa tao, lalo kang maiinis, diba? Kaya ayun, nagpicture taking na lang kami. In fairness, she wasn’t camera-shy. I was just there standing, waiting for a Kodak moment, while she was looks up to me, as if wondering why I'm not reacting to his antics of trying to get my attention and play with her.

The rain has stopped, but Ashley went on with playing around. Talagang sakit sa ulo ‘tong asong ‘to. But despite that, you just can't help but love your dog still. And then it dawned on me why it’s so much easier to forgive dogs than forgive fellow humans. It’s simply because dogs are, well, what they are – dogs. You know that what they do – play with slippers, newspapers, rags, sometimes even ruining them, in short, make a huge mess – it’s in their nature. They know not what they’re doing, unlike people. People can be really mean. Sometimes, they even mean to be mean.

Dogs are also genuinely loyal. If there’s one thing that dogs are fully aware of, it’s to whom their loyalty belongs to – to their masters. As for us people, it’s in our nature to only have our own best interests at hand. Not all of us look after other people’s interests as well.

They say that dog people, you know, people who love dogs, are normally good people. Being good masters of your pets significantly reflects how you treat other creatures as well, humans included.

Buti na lang, I'm a dog person. Therefore… haha!