The Inevitable Passage of Time - Measured In "Dog" Years! Or More "Travels with Charlie"

New Charlie (2014)

Hello Fellow Travelers!

My younger niece recently obtained a shih-tzu puppy she named Charlie.  The "old" Charlie was a cockapoo that belonged to my parents.  The original  Charlie was great with kids and inserted himself in every "child" situation.  My father's understanding of the canine brain was as pragmatic as it was insightful, "He hung around kids because they were the most likely to drop food!"

Kiddies Watched Over by "Old" Charlie (2003)

Whatever his true motive, he was a fine dog especially around kids!  He was in almost every child photo during his lifetime and he has the same expression on his furry face in every photo:  The look that says, "Are you done with that?"  "Are you going to drop it?"  "Would it be OK if I licked it, like this?"  Hey, he was a dog!  Really!  Not a man that acted like a dog but, in fact, an actual canine.  He probably sniffed other dogs with the same expression of concern on his furry face.  ("Are you done with that?"  "Too bad, I'm taking it!")

I fully expect the "new" Charlie to be as singularly motivated.  He's supercute but he is a doggy, a drop-kick piece of fluff doggy, but a descendant of the wolf nonetheless.  Weren't Shih tzus bred to be guard dogs in Imperial China?  What, exactly did they guard against?  Over-zealous imperial stylists?  Extreme decorators?  It's just hard to imagine any circumstance where any encounter with these little dogs isn't met with an, "Awwww!  He's just so cute!"

Shih tzus are the cookies of dogs!  They don't inspire fear!  They inspire "Awe"!  (As in,"Awwww, isn't he adorable?")  They make everybody happy!  Damage?  Who cares?  They're just so darned cute!  Look at that face!  Who could stay mad at that face?  Didn't China come up with opium too?   Cute puppies and poppies!  And fireworks!  And pasta and silk!  All the good stuff comes from China!

And, before anyone suggests it I will not be nor am I in favor of shipping cute-as-a-button puppies to Iraq to battle ISIS with their "cuteness".  Those a--holes might behead something and then we'd have a Sarah McClachlan type situation on our hands and no one wants that!

Then the three of us (Myself, Sarah and her dog) would have to go to Iraq.  When I was already planning a "Thelma & Louise" scenario with my best friend that did not include dogs but did involve the use of an Uzi!  The "T&L" scenario includes many explosions!  "Embrace the Suck, People!"