Community of Dog-Lovers
We've all heard the line that people tend to look like their dogs, but you can also tell a lot about a culture by the way they keep their dogs. If you ever get the chance to be in England in the summertime, go to a countryside pub and you'll see rows of picnic benches filled with "hill walkers" and their dogs. You'll see each dog on lead laying quietly at its owner's feet. There will be 10 dogs in a space the size of a modest backyard, all ignoring each other, utterly calm, and quiet. "Keep calm and carry on." All very polite and British.
If you go to Hungary, many city parks have a fenced-off dog park area. Inside will be absolute bedlam as a pack of 10 dogs races madly around the place while their owners animatedly chat it up on the fringes. If you encounter dogs anywhere else there they will be behind a fence barking viciously at you because you dared walk down their street, both very Hungarian modes of being.
Here in the States, it's the leashed walking encounters. As different parties attempt to walk past each other, the dogs inevitably drag their owners together, tangling leads around legs and forcing an encounter that isn't easily disengaged from without getting to know each other and making friends quickly. Nothing speaks of American culture like making new friends quickly with a good laugh, does it?
In-person. All the time.
Dogs bring us together, plain and simple. With ceremonial sniffing, leash tangling, and dog wrangling, the introductions are made. Of course, we don't mind it. We like meeting each other as much as the dogs do. They have a unique ability to break the ice and bring us together, even beyond the literal dragging.
Spontaneous meetings of strangers are getting rarer in our world today with so much of our lives happening through screens. Dogs are 100% "in-person" and in the world. For their health and ours, we have to get out with them and be ready for unexpected encounters with others. There is something so rich about meeting someone with immediate and observable “common ground.” The dogs themselves make those meetings easier. The joy and animation dogs display when they meet each other is infectious and we are drawn into it. When you encounter someone who loves Golden Retrievers as much as you do, you can't help but like them. We can leave behind, for a moment, some of our opinions and “stances” when we have a shared love for something.
A pack of expertise
We also have access to a huge wealth of knowledge through these dog-founded friendships. Remember when we used to just ask people that we knew what they did about a particular problem? Well, that’s what happens in a community of same-interest people. Instead of a Google search, you can call a friend to find out what they did about their dog scratching a hole in the back door wanting to come back in. You don’t need a thousand competing opinions from Google when you have a few people in your corner, who know your dog, who know you, and who can offer advice.
As these relationships grow we feel like a part of a bigger tribe, a pack if you will. We are members of a pack of people who love dogs, know about dogs, and love sharing the dog life with each other. This means sharing stories and experiences with each other: from the hilarious to the poignant to the gross beyond belief. Life with dogs is rich, and the richness of life grows richer when it is shared.
A hub for the dog-loving life
At Dogologie we love the place we have in the dog-loving pack, supporting the dog-loving lifestyle. More than just a place for products that make that life easier and enhance it, we are a connecting point for people who share this love of life with dogs. Stop by with your furry companion the next time you're on Main St. Fredericksburg and connect!