I love my cat Choo-Choo dearly, but dear God, let me never reach the point where I'd consider him to be a husband or a soul mate. A child maybe, but nothing more, nothing less.
From the 'Dog Whisperer,' a Howl of Triumph
New York Times, By EDWARD WYATT, Published: May 23, 2006
Working with Americans and their dogs, he said, "I was surprised and a little confused by what I saw." Where he grew up, in Culiacan, Sinaloa, in Northwest Mexico, "everybody walks dogs," Mr. Millan said during a recent visit to New York. "But where I am from, the dog is always behind. Here the dog is always in front. I thought maybe you guys were doing it right and we were doing it wrong. Because to me America is the country where everybody is always doing it right. I thought you knew and we were wrong."
He quickly discovered: no. Americans were letting the dogs, rather than the humans, be the pack leaders, in almost every respect. "Americans work against Mother Nature, and that's why dogs don't listen to the general population of America," he said. "Why are dogs growing up on a farm much happier than a dog living in the city? Because on a farm, it gets to be a dog. And in the city they become a child, they become a husband, they become a soul mate. They become something the human wants before they are willing to do what is best for them."
Btw, do check the latest pictures of Choo-Choo on the right. He's pictured running around (really smelling flowers and eating grass) in my very overgrown front garden.
I noticed those pics of Choo Choo before I even read this post, and I think they are adorable. He looks like he's having a grand time in your garden!