Beageface

Bryan Sarkinen at the Westminster Dog Show

A Note from Bryan:

"Wanted to let you know that a show that I shot for CNBC is airing at 9PM tonight. It's called "American Originals" and is about the Westminster Dog Show."

A Three Dog Life, A Memoir, By Abigail Thomas (2007)

This work by Abigail Thomas is a true story; her story of a chapter in her life. Maybe it is summation of a life of experience. These kinds of stories are not hard to find. I am sure they are not as well received as this one, with its awesome lauds from everything newspaper to author Stephen King. However, for me, it’s a little different. It turns out that Thomas lived about three blocks away from me at the time of this book. We shared the same streets, and shopped at the same Market in the Columbia University area of Manhattan. Although, I have no memory of this woman, I am sure that I must have past her on the street or even waited in line with in the Westside Market.

OK, so this book seems a little more real to me. Got it?

The story focuses around one event and its aftermath. Thomas’ husband was hit by a car returning home after taking their beagle Harry for a walk. Rich sustained massive brain damage. He lost short term memory and control of much of his mental functionality. He was emotionally all over the place sometimes going into unexplainable rages and paranoia.

Abigail’s life changes immediately. She has to handle what happened to her husband while handling what happened to her. The book in many ways is a story of adaptation, which seems to be a strength of the author. If you ever had to adapt to a sudden and traumatic change in life, you can easily relate. What she is does best and what is best about the book is her ability to document the process honestly and with great sympathy.

At the start of the book, she starts out with one dog, Harry. By the end she has three. I think her favorite is Harry the beagle, but I am biased. I am sure that I have seen this beagle as I noticed every beagle on the street, so I am sure that I must have noticed a neighborhood beagle on Broadway or Riverside Drive.

The title of book is taken from an aboriginal saying that during especially cold nights the more dogs sleep with you. Anyone who has an indoor dog know that on cold night dogs will get in bed with you, roll into a ball, and lean right up against you. If you have a beagle, you know that the beagle will do the same but take up most of the bed or couch.

I liked that Thomas is a true dog person. She gets them. This is evident in all of her little insights about the personalities and skill sets of her dogs.

In some ways, her book it is quite frightening and lonely. It frightening what her husbands goes through, and what she goes through with her husband. Rich is healthy individual who had a terrible thing happened to him and lost everything except his wife. You sort of know that he is going to die soon. It hangs over everything. It is a lonely experience to go through her loneliness, until you realize that she seems excel in loneliness.

In many ways, she is a happier and stronger person after this tragedy; one because she learns how to rely on herself and she learns to find comfort where she can find it. She, of course, finds comfort in her dogs. Who wouldn’t? She finds comfort in her Husband in his new life. She moves to Woodstock to be near the facility that he now lives in.

Although as I fell deeper into the book, more annoyed I got with Abigail. I found that the book lacked insight and wisdom. In sometimes, I wondered if she liked her husband better after the accident, whom she related to more as dog than as a human being. She is definitely woman who prefers solitude; more immersed in her own thoughts than with other people. She seems to come to terms with after a life time of fighting, and feeling bad about it. It’s not uncommon, I have met people like this, and I think she is one of them.

My favorite passage is when she describes how she used feel unnerved that there was something else going on and she wasn’t there, and now she hopes they are having a good and don’t call her.

Maybe it’s a story of depression and loss. There are hints of sweetness and strength which are certainly not mutually exclusive. It is certainly a powerful story, well written, and very touching.

How to Raise a Jewish Dog by the Rabbis of the Boca Raton Theological Seminary as to Ellis Weiner & Barbara Davilman

I really bought this book thinking it was a humor book. It seemed like one because of the pictures of people putting up “Dog not lost YET” poster and crying “how could you do this to me” to a dog who had gone through the trash looking for food, seems so funny to me. It turns out that this book is serious. It actually is a book on how to train your dog.

Still interested, I read the book over a weekend.

You don’t have to be Jewish to use and understand this book. You only have to love your dog. For me, Dogs have always been a part of life. Everyone in my family had one: big dogs, little dogs and ones that were in-between. Some were smart and some weren’t. Some sweet, some mean. This book helped me feel better about my family’s incredibly personal relationships with our K9 friends.

The book promotes having a symbiotic relationship with you dog. Treat your dog like a high being and you are on your way. Know your dog’s moods and you’re in better shape. Expect to argue with your dog and now you are in the mindset to effectively train your dog to be a Jewish dog.

One example is the fight for the chair. This reminds me of a famous series of battles between my dog (Beagle) and my grandmother. My grandmother always lost these battles and said to my dog “If you want that it so bad, you can have it!” In How to Raise a Jewish Dog the exact same scenario is played out, with the same outcome and the same sentiment expressed. Brilliant!

The book, explains that instead of punishing your dog, they are against violence, guilt your dog, which is much more effective. They advocate praising your dog as much as possible, especially in public and in front of other people; so that the dog feels like the whole world loves him.

The book starts out by asking the four questions. Think of the four questions from the Passover Seder. It points out strategies for dealing with other dogs (stay away from the Beagle’s evil ways {food, food, food}) and other people who your dog doesn’t like. It covers raising the dog from infant to old age, travels and manners.

Why the Rabbis of the Boca Raton Theological Seminary? Well, it turns out that these guys were trying to form their own liberal Judaism in Boca Raton Florida. They met in a motel there, which they eventually bought. Students were worried that they were leaving their dogs at home alone. So, the Seminary let a couple students bring their dogs to class., then everyone brought their dogs, and there was a whole community of dogs at the Seminary/Motel. They found the dogs to be a welcomed addition to the environment. Everyone was much happier with the dogs being there, but they were presented with a series of behaviorial problems. Together they figured out ways to solve these behavior problems and produced some pretty well adjusted dogs. People outside the Seminary started to notice these well behaved dogs and offered to pay them to train their dogs. The rest, as they say, was history.

Remember, at the start of this, I thought this was a humor book. Well it is a very funny book, because it is very realistic with our relationship with our four legged friends. They seem to get it. I laughed throughout it. It was a very enjoyable read, and it brought back a lot of warm feelings and memories of Beagle, Shoemaker, Dude, Jerry Jacob, Zach, Spike, Pepsi, Pepper, Sundance and stories of Peanuts, the funny legged dog.