August 26 will mark National Dog Day. We give dogs what time we can spare, what space we can spare, what food we can spare, and what love we can spare. In return, dogs give us everything. It’s the best deal we human beings have ever made.
Part of that deal is that dogs teach us to live better lives:
When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body. Enjoy the simple things in life, like taking a long walk or riding in a car and feeling the wind blowing on your face. Run barefoot, romp, and play daily. Leave yourself breathless at least once every day.
Master the art of stretching. Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. If it’s not wet and sloppy, it’s not a real kiss. When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently. When loved ones come home, always run to greet them. Take time to stop and eat the roses.
Trust your instincts. Don’t go out without ID. On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree. Life is hard, and then you nap. Let others know when they’ve invaded your territory. Make your mark on the world.
Be loyal. Never pretend to be something you’re not. No matter how often you’re scolded, don’t buy into the guilt thing and pout. Run right back and make friends. To err is human; to forgive canine.
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains. If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles; If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it. If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you any time;
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment; If you can face the world without lies and deceit. If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills. If you can relax without liquor and sleep without the aid of drugs;
If you can find great happiness in the simplest things in life. If you can forgive any action in the blink of an eye. If you can repel intruders without using lethal weapons.
If you have no bias against creed, color, religion, politics, or gender. If you offer unconditional love as naturally as you breathe, then you are almost as good as your dog.
Among my favorite features in the U-T are the more than two pages of comic strips. For more than a century, dogs have trotted, scampered, barked, and howled through our cartoons. Occasionally a strip is named after the dog itself, as in Marmaduke, Fred Bassett, and Mother Goose & Grimm. In other funnies, the dog is simply one player in a pen-and-ink cast.
Match each dog in the left-paw column with its comic strip home in the U-T in the right-paw column. Answers follow.
| 1. Barfy | Beetle Baily |
| 2. Daisy | Big Nate |
| 3. Dogbert | Blondie |
| 4. Earl | Dennis the Menace |
| 5. Fang | Dilbert |
| 6. Odie | Drabble |
| 7. Otto | Duplex |
| 8. Poncho | The Family Circus |
| 9. Puddles | Garfield |
| 10. Roscoe | Get Fuzzy |
| 11. Ruff | Hagar the Horrible |
| 12. Satchel Pooch | LuAnn |
| 13. Snert | Mutts |
| 14. Snoopy | Peanuts |
| 15. Spitsy | Pickles |
| 16. Wally | Pooch Café |
Answers
- The Family Circus 2. Blondie 3. Dilbert 4. Mutts 5. Duplex 6. Garfield 7. Beetle Bailey 8. Pooch Café 9. LuAnn 10. Pickles 11. Dennis the Menace 12. Get Fuzzy 12.Hagar the Horrible 14. Peanuts 15. Big Nate 16. Drabble
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On Saturday, August 27, 7:00 pm, I’ll be offering a benefit performance at the Oceanside Theatre, 217 North Coast Highway. Tickets are $20. Phone 760 433 8900 / info@oceansidetheatre.com. My show is called Doctor Grammar Guy. Come prepared to laugh and learn and support a great community playhouse. I’d love to meet you there.