Hogan has never thought much of the idea of him being a canine. He uses pillows like a human, he stretches like a cat, and should he find himself at a dog park, he goes over and stands by the chain link fence with the other owners. He’d smoke if he could… probably menthols.
One of the employees at Paws Here, the doggy daycare that Hogan occasionally visits when his schedule does not mesh with ours, took me aside one day and suggested that Hogan not come on Thursdays, because Thursdays tend to be a busy time for them. She thought he’d enjoy Fridays better, since Fridays apparently offer a lower population of dogs. “He just doesn’t seem to enjoy playing with dogs. He hangs out with us instead of the animals. He sits in our chairs. He eats our bagels. He’s just odd.”
But this week Hogan slipped into complete denial. He agreed to walk around the reservoir on the end of a leash as long as it was agreed that I would feed him immediately upon our return. On our trip, however, he completely refused to chase… or acknowledge for that matter… an incredibly slow, dim-witted deer that waddled across the path in front of us and proceeded to stand staring at us. Hogan stared at the deer, did the math, and then proceeded to walk toward home. “You got a picture? Great, man. Let’s go. It’s a little cold.”
Do not be confused by the blurry photograph. Crappy phone camera, crappy photographer… but perfectly motionless deer that is about 25 yards away at most. Notice the distinct lack of an excited Ridgeback in the picture.