Image Makers
Dear Frankie,
Uri is a new student at our doggy daycare. He’s a Russian Wolfhound and Bernese Mountain Dog Mix and enormous. Uri takes up two seats on the daycare bus and has three bowls of chow at lunch. When we tease him about how much he eats, he laughs and says he needs it to keep up his strength and maintain his good looks.
At show and tell, Uri told us that his recent parents adopted him when his first parents decided they didn’t want him anymore because he had grown so much bigger than they expected. That wasn’t bad enough.
He then told us they took him to a vet and asked him to put him down. The vet was the one who called his present parents to ask if they would like to adopt him. They had just lost their dog Vlad, a big bruiser like Uri.
Can you imagine killing a dog because he didn’t fit your image of a dog? I bet these people wouldn’t think twice about killing a Dalmatian if it had too many or few spots.
Percy
Dear Percy,
Some humans choose their dogs like they choose their designer bags — as a fashion statement and to attract attention.
Often, you see movie stars and celebrities carrying the breed of choice on one arm and the designer bag of the season on the other. Invariably, these dogs are dressed in ridiculous clothes, have bows in their hair, and are wearing a jeweled collar. One wonders what they must think about these outfits and being paraded around in front of crowds and cameras. Some might not care, and others might find it demeaning, but what choice do they have?
I have never received a letter from a dog with a famous parent, so I can’t offer any first-paw accounts of how they feel about being image makers. I can’t imagine they would be allowed to write even if they wanted to in fear they might tarnish the image of the hand that fed them.
Best, Frankie
© 2025 Geneva Woodruff
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