Animals on the Brain

(a photo from online)

All weekend I have had pets on my mind. When visiting Soulard Market's pet shop on Saturday morning, I was delighted to discover that they sold Beta fish. Since my Beta Vladimir died before Thanksgiving last year, I have had a hard time imagining getting another fish. Besides the fact that I have been busy moving into my new place and I still don't even have a kitchen table or coffee table to display a fishbowl, I was too shocked about finding Vladimir dried up on my desk to be able to risk having another pet in my life. When I saw the colorful Betas in the pet booth at the market, I was so excited, I knew it is nearing the time when I will buy another one.

On Saturday afternoon, I took a walk in Forest Park and I admired all the dogs I saw walking with their owners. One in particular warmed my heart. I saw her walking towards me, a larger version of our family dog Sugar who is a Bischon-red toy poodle mix, a soft sandy color with curly hair. This dog at Forest Park was larger, but not as large as a Standard poodle, and she exuded life and friendliness before I even came close to them. I smiled, hoping inwardly she would let me pet her and that the man wouldn't mind. I smiled, she smiled, the man smiled. One foot from the curly dog and she put her paws on my hips and beamed into my lowered face. I pet her all around her face and shoulders laughing and talking to her. She was a delightful dog! The owner said she was a Golden retriever-poodle mix which explained her uber friendliness as well as her similarities to my family poodle-mix dog.

By Saturday night, I was supposed to be looking for jobs, but I only had time for pets. I researched the Golden-doodle breed and then read more about Standard Poodles. Normally when I imagine my dream pet, it is a miniature poodle (smaller than standard, bigger than toy) in a rusty red color. Sometimes I've wanted the option of having a larger dog, but most of the breeds are shedding and drooling machines! I love pets, but I love a clean house too. Hair on my couches and drool on my floors are not ideal options for pet owning. The nice thing about fish is, they neither shed nor drool. (As far as I can tell anyway, because really living in water, if a fish drools, how would we know?) Last night I had an epiphany about possibly owning a red Standard poodle!

Over the summer at an outdoor concert, I passed a family with a cream Standard poodle which to me looked like a giant sheep. When they let me pet their dog, I was amazed because the hair was as soft as a sheep! The dog was relaxed and amiable too. All of these incidents made me realize that I may in fact want a red Standard poodle because they are nonshedding, family friendly, sociable, highly intelligent, and they don't have drooling jowls like some big dogs can like retrievers or Newfoundlands. I wanted a Newfoundland once, until I met one and came away sogging wet.

For about three hours on Saturday, and some of Sunday if I'm being honest, I read articles about Standard poodles, read Standard poodle breeder blogs, and watched dozens of videos featuring Standard poodles. While I still feel torn that I might prefer a mini, I like that the Standard's bark is not as high pitched and they offer more of a physical presence if I were to walk around my not-so-revitalized neighborhood or the city parks alone as a single woman. Whether I end up buying a miniature or a standard poodle in the future, one thing I love about the breed is how immensely intelligent and trainable they are. I would love to go to training classes with my dog to teach him/her to be a well-behaved individual in society, but also add fun tricks and play games with them.

For now, I will make plans to afford setting up a Beta fish's home first, but dreaming of having a red poodle will give me something happy to think about on this Monday morning.