Must Love Dogs II

Remove one letter from a statement and the meaning changes totally. “I love dogs” takes on a whole other definition with the removal of the “s” in dogs. Depending on where you came from and the environment that you grew up in, you may or may not know what I’m talking about. But to be clear, while dogs are raised to be pets and companions in this country, such is not always the case in places like the Philippine Islands. Hey, I’m not judging nor am I suggesting that there are few “stray dogs” there, nor was it I who came up with the idea that any Filipino with more than three dogs is considered a rancher. My dad came to Hawaii from the Philippines but I don’t remember him ever saying that his family ate dog. It kind of gives a whole different spin to “hot dogs”, doesn’t it? Come to think of it, I seem to remember, when I was still a kid growing up in Hawaii, our dogs always seemed to be nervous and particularly when my dad got a little too close to them. And how about the ones that “disappeared” and reportedly got loose, ran off and never came back? Hmmmmmm! Okay, I’m kidding about all that. As far as I know, it never happened. As far as I know. Seriously though, consider this if you will. Who’s keeping their ears open while everyone’s asleep if it’s not the dog? Here, if the dog’s barking when you’re trying to sleep and you tell them to “shut up!”, there’s a good chance that the dog will continue to bark. Over there?……….they tell the dog to shut up once and the dog will not make so much as a peep for the rest of the night. They KNOW better….. and remember that they’re being told to shut up in Filipino. Oh yeah, they understand…..we’re talking bi-lingual dogs! I’m just saying. During my nearly four years of military service in Uncle Sam’s Navy, I had numerous opportunities to visit the Philippines for some rest and recuperation, R&R, they called it. On several occasions, there’s a chance that I might have tasted some of that dog meat, presented in the form of BBQ “beef”, skewered on sticks. I never really knew what it was. It might also have been monkey meat, which I understood to be a local delicacy, as well. As I remember, it tasted pretty good and no, i was not intoxicated at the time. Like I said, I joke about it, but I also understand that this may not only be part of that custom but also a way of life born from limited choices and the daily struggle to survive on whatever happens to be available and affordable. But just as it is there, in other parts of the world people eat horse meat, insects, and animals that we would never consider serving for dinner here, including the cute and harmless guinea pig. Different strokes, for different folks, right? So, basically, if that’s the way you were raised and are a dog lover, I’m not judging whether that’s right or wrong. I’m not! We have three dogs. So if you’re coming over to visit, I just need to know ahead of time. No spontaneous drop-in visits and………eat BEFORE you stop by, ok?