Dogs and McDonalds

I eat far more fast food than I should. It's quick, cheap, and easy. Fast food restaurants also make handy meeting places since they are at highway exits and are easy to spot and are marked from the road. Fast food is obviously a big part of our culture, too big, so it's hardly surprising that our dogs become familiar with it as well. From the dog's point of view, it must seem like a miracle. You are driving along, pull over, roll down the window, and a stranger hands you food. I guess their view of it is pretty much like ours. It's great.

Clay and I went to pick up three shepherds one time several years back. They were neglect cases and were three of the skinniest dogs I've ever seen. Husband and wife got divorced. Wife left. Dogs stayed with husband who would only occasionally put out some food. The local ACO (animal control officer) got wind of it, and he told the guy to either surrender the dogs or face charges. So we got an adult male and female and a pup. To compound the lack of food problem, the males had a digestive problem which prevented them from processing the little bit of cheap dog food they were being fed. They were starving.

Anyway, we drove down I-81 to get the dogs from whatever county they were in. On the way back we got hungry and pulled into a McDonalds. We didn't want to leave the dogs alone in the car so we did the drive through. We got our food, got back on the highway, and started eating. Suddenly we realized that we were eating hamburgers in front of three starving German Shepherd Dogs that we did not know. It was stupid. By all rights the dogs should have lunged at us, stolen and devoured our food. They did not. They were loose in the back of the vehicle, but they all just sat nicely, quietly and politely, while we stuffed our faces with too much fat and sodium. That spoke volumes about those three dogs. They were all very well mannered.

The female, Strika, was adopted locally to a really great home. The male, Riker, took a while longer because we had to solve his digestive problem (a combination of raw food and grain-free dry food did the trick), and then find him a home that was willing to cope with it. He also landed in a great home. And of course, we kept the puppy who became Clay's dog, Zachary.

I thought about all this again this morning as I drove Lexi to the vet to begin her heartworm treatment. I pulled into a McDonald's drive through and she became very animated and excited. She had obviously been to McDonalds before and knew what it was all about. I wish her prior owners had given her Heartgard instead of hamburgers.

Pictures: At top left, Rowdy and Abigail in the car on the way to Rowdy's neuter appointment on Monday. He was back home and playing like a wild man with Abigail on Tuesday. On Wednesday he went back to his foster home and other playmates. On the right, from top moving down, Zachary, Strika, and Riker, and then Zachary all grown up, filled out, and in his prime. Below: Lexi in the car, excited about the prospect of fast food.