A Rescue Dog and A Smart Phone Explained

Later on that day, I walked by a couple of men (one white and the other "brown"). The white man had a hand-held SmartPhone™ which had music playing (loud enough to hear a couple of blocks away). It was a song in English (nothing unusual there, you might say).

But right across from where we were at the City Hall's Celebration Square, one of the many summer's "festivals," advertised as "Bollywood Monster Mashup," was in progress.

"Wrong song!" I chimed.

"You're listening to the wrong song," I explained to the curious white man. "You should be singing an Indian song like they're doing at Celebration Square!"

"Oh yes!" laughed the man (nothing from his companion).

"It's Bollywood Mashup today" he explains to the uninterested friend, who barely acknowledged my presence. I surmise that he must be yet another nationality from that so very diverse subcontinent.

I walk on not waiting for any conversation or interaction. "Have a good day!"

"Have a good day to you!" say the white man.

Nothing from his sidekick.

Here's yet another hidden behaviour. As brown-skinned people view each other with suspicion, they will always prefer the presence (or acquaintances if not friendships - as close as they can allow - of white people.

White Canadians built this country, they formed the culture, they have contacts and connections that go back generations. THEY are useful. Anyone else, well that depends...



Above, the Indian Flag Flying at the Bollywood Monster Mashup on Celebration Square, Mississauga, ,2018. The photo is from across the giant stage set for the week-end's events...

the LARGEST South Asian Festival in Canada, #BollywoodMonster Mashup, an event that shares the elegant yet ecstatic Bollywood culture with everyone. An event that helps bring cultures together. [Source: Bollywood Monster Mashup website - About]

That must be the attraction for Niko and his busy master. Perhaps he is involved in this cultural unifier, although real life is more demanding.

Multi-culti Mssssaugans continues to make hypocrites out of its citizens.

A Rescue Dog and A Smart Phone And the Myth of The Happy Multicultural

Niko's Long Lost Brother

The roads near my apartment building are under construction. My understanding is that they're restructuring the internal pipe and water systems. In any case, the wait for the traffic lights to change from green to red is much longer than usual (red to green is much shorter than usual).

The trick is to remain patient. I've now found a ledge where I can sit and wait.

Yesterday, I got to the crossing just as the lights changed to green. A long wait. As I got there a man came along with a dog. I am a big fan of dogs and know most of the ones near or around my building. This one was a stranger. It looked like a mix between a golden retriever and a husky. It has lovely green eyes.

The owner was an Asian man (South Asian). He had the dog on a leash and had his head down on his hand-held SmartPhone™ throughout. I don't even know how he realized the lights had changed. Probably because cars were stopping rather than rolling through (the sound changes).

"Can I stroke him?" I said. I partly speak to people to see their reactions. In multi-culti Mississauga, conversation is rare. People stick to themselves, and their own, and especially the Asians/Africans/Arab/Hispanics.

I think this is partly a genuine problem with communication. Many adults speak English "as a second language" and thus have problems expressing precisely what they wish to communicate. Partly it is also suspicion (perhaps this s a larger part of the problem). Many immigrants are now shoulder to shoulder with people they have little or no knowledge about. Some may even be adversaries (or even enemies) in their countries of origin. And at times such animosities travel across the oceans to this land of happy multiculturalism.

Most immigrants DO NOT have faith in multiculturalism. They know first had it doesn't work "back home." Why should it work here?

Thus Canada (Mississauga) is a land of enclaves: Portuguese; Sri Lankans; Ethiopians; Egyptians. And even enclaves within enclaves some based on ethnicity like the Ethiopian Amhara, Oromo and Tigre, and some religious like the Egyptian Copts and Muslims.

Back to my cross-roads encounter.

There was a brief pause as the man registered that the question was directed at him.

"Oh. Sure. He's friendly."

Back on his SmartPhone™ .

And the dog really was friendly, and happily grinning to have someone stroke his head.

"What's his name?"

No correction there, so the dog is male.

"Niko."

"Hi Niko!" And Niko continues to grin.

"How old is he?"

"Mmmm [flicking through pressing information]. About 4 years old."

"Oh! He's a rescue!" ALL dog-owners know the exact age of their pooch.

The light changes and the man drags the dog across as he answers "Yes."

I was actually waiting for the light for the perpendicular road to change.

Niko waddles along looking back at me. It was more than his master could muster, who couldn't get across quick enough!

I just laughed and watched them walk on. "Where COULD they be going?" I asked myself. All there was in that direction was more of the busy and noisy Hurontario throughway, although there are now high rise buildings scattered along the way.

"Oh. He must live in one of those!! And he's just coming from the more green areas around the City Hall, taking his "rescue dog" for a walk."


View of the Square One are in Mississauga
The City Hall (City Centre) and its clock tower is in the background
And the MiWay Bus Terminal in the foreground
[Photo By: KPA - 2017]

As I waited for MY green light, I looked into the line of cars waiting patiently for the light to change, holding brown faces and yellow faces, Chinese and Filipino and Arab faces. And and some which looked Eastern European. No WASPs - of the blonde and blue type.

I realized then that the man must have thought I was Arab (or Middle Eastern). Indians and Arabs are not the best of friends. Perhaps he was Hindu. Mississauga has one of the largest "Indian" which means "Hindu-Indian" population in Ontario. And they are touted as professionals and with some wealth. My understanding is that they work within the computer and digital industry in the region.

And the man did look relatively well-off. He had on a white polo shirt (maybe Lacoste?) and navy blue, slim-cut track pants (none of that baggy running/gym gear people wear these days) - maybe Ralph Lauren? His shoes were tan (Mocassin?) loafers, NOT sneakers or flip-flops which less wealthy Indians seem to prefer.

I wonder why (how) he called his dog Niko?

I googled "Niko" and here's what came up in Wikipedia:


In arts and entertainment: Fictional characters

Niko (animated), on the television series The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
Niko, a character played by Orestes Matacena in the 1994 film The Mask
Niko Bellic, the main character of the game Grand Theft Auto IV
Niklaren Goldeye, a character in Tamora Pierce's Emelan books
Niko, a pirate in The Legend of Zelda video games
Niko, a character played by Steven Seagal in the 1988 film Above the Law
Niko Yazawa, one of the main characters of media franchise Love Live!
Niko, the playable character of the video game Oneshot
Nikko Halloran, a character played by Remy Ryan in the 1993 film, RoboCop 3

In arts and entertainment: Performers

Niko (musician), a musician currently signed to ATIC Records
Niko Etxart, Basque singer and musician
Maurizio De Jorio, Italian Eurobeat artist using the stage name Niko

Other uses in arts and entertainment

Niko & The Way to the Stars (The Flight Before Christmas in North America), an animated film
Niko, the Japanese name for the erhu, or Chinese fiddle

Other uses

Minbu Nikō, a Buddhist disciple of Nichiren
Nikō (company), a Japanese manufacturer of photographic cameras later renamed Cosina
Niko Kovač, a Croatian soccer player
Niko Kranjčar, a Croatian soccer player
Niko Resources, a Canadian oil and gas company

I doubt Niko is named after "Minbu Nikō, a Buddhist disciple of Nichiren," with his pointy husky face (if his golden retriever had dominated, then maybe).

Labs and Lives

"Dogs, I Am Confident, Would Have Arranged Many, Many Things Better Than We Do"

First, I Do An On-Line Search
Cartoon by Arnie Levin
Published in the New Yorker October 5, 1998
I went to my (second) favorite spot to read - the Whole Foods Market cafe - my newly acquired (for TEN dollars, down from FORTY EIGHT dollars!) book, The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs.

Here is what the reviewers say about it:

...the amused insouciance, the self-deprecation, the gentle unfolding of a structural irony, the skip and reveal of the final sentence, the knowledge of Not Too Much that seems intrinsic to the New Yorker. And cartoons.”—Edmund De Waal, The Spectator

But, above all, it's funny, in that canine way, where all things are about the dog.


Thurber Dog With Butterfly for Nora, 1937
Illustration by James Thurber

Dogs, I am confident, would have arranged many, many things better than we do. They would have in all probability averted the Depression, for they can go through lots tougher things than we and still think it's boom time. They demand very little of their heyday; a kind word is more to them than fame, a soup bone more than gold; they are perfectly contented with a warm fire and a good book to chew (preferably an autographed first edition lent by a friend).
James Thurber, from "Dogs I Have Scratched"

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat

The New York Dog

I browsed through the books at my local Chapters bookstore, and I found this: The New York Dog (not The Dogs of New York) by Rachael Hale McKenna, going for a mere $21 online ($32 in-store).

Here is one dog:


Bonga Loves New York

Image from: Rachael Hale McKenna: Photographer
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat

The New York Dog

The New York Dog (not The Dogs of New York) by Rachael Hale McKenna, going for a mere $32.

Here is one dog:


Bonga Loves New York

From: Rachael Hale McKenna: Photographer
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat

Jack

Jack, on watch (poor mailman)
[Photo from Google Maps]

I was greeted by two rambunctious dogs, a large pale-furred golden retriever and a black labrador retriever, at the front door of my physiotherapist's office which I was attending for the first time.

I wasn't intimidated, and peered through the glass door and said "Are you going to let me in?"

They retreated, and I opened the door.

The black labrador went downstairs, but the golden retriever edged close to me as I sat on the bench after I signed in at the reception.

" What's his name?"

"Jack."

"Perfect. Hey, Jack!"

Then Jack wouldn't leave me alone, having been formally introduced to me. He would put his big head on my knee, stroke me with his giant paws, lean his lumbering body against my leg. And just stay by me.

I stroked his head, pulled his ears, and talked to him in some form of human-dog speech.

Then suddenly, he left my side and started pawing at the door, with a couple of deep, gruff barks.

"Should I let him out?"

"Yes, he just wants to be out when the school kids walk by"

He has an internal clock!

Jack goes out, and sits on the sidewalk. And sure enough, small clusters of chattering school kids, about eight and nine-year-olds, start walking by. They don't pay any attention to the large canine sitting on the cold pavement, watching them pass by. They must be used to him. But how can they not want to stroke his big, sympathethic head? Poor, faithful Jack!

Jack would keep glancing back, even as he sits patiently on the sidewalk. He clearly misses his warm perch on top of what looks like part of a rowing fitness machine. He should be back inside! He has a room to survey!


Prince
Watercolor by Kimberly Kaminski

"It's cold out there, in fact, it's freezing!" say I, having braved through ice, snow, and blisteringly cold temperatures to make it to my early morning appointment.

"Yes," says the woman, who seems to be the owner of both the practice and the dog.

Jack paws at the door. I let him in, but his leash gets stuck outside, pulling him a little back.

"Should I take it off his neck?"

"Yes, thanks."

Jack sits patiently, and even raises his head a little, to let me get at the hook.

"There you go."

He then resumes his place against my knee.

With a friend like that, who needs anyone else?

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Below is a Jack look-alike on the left, which this dog site describes as "a slightly undershot jaw characteristic of light-furred retrievers."

This was Jack's expression. He wasn't just playing, he was very serious about his friendliness!


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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat

Paris in Phillie

This is Paris, or a relative of Paris, a French Poodle. I met Paris in Phillie last week during my trip. She was sitting a little out of breath, so presumably she had been out for a run in the park.

"What's her name?" I asked her owner.

"Paris."

"Can I stroke her?"

"Just make sure she smells your hand first."

"Hi, Paris," I greeted her, stroking her surprisingly soft fluff of coiffed hair.

She just sat grinning at me, quiet and calm.

"Paris!" I said to my friend who was showing me around Philadelphia. My friend is a France expert, and speaks fluent French. She also knows the real Paris.

It seemed a good sign, to find a poodle named Paris in Philadelphia. And indeed, the rest of the day went beautifully well.

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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An American Foxhound in New York

A Winning Spirit



I saw a dog which looked to me like an American Foxhound near the Duane Reade on 106th and Broadway, when I was in New York last week. The second time I saw this happy and active dog, I asked the owner what kind of a dog he was. The young man told me that he didn't know, and that the dog was a "rescue dog" which he'd only had for a couple of months. The young man looked like he could do with a rescue more than the dog. As I was talking to his owner, the dog became friendly, but possessive, as though to ward me off his master. I took this as a greeting, and stroked him gently, while asking the man what he called the dog. "Grant," he said. "What a name you have," I told the dog, who by now looked like he just wanted to play.



"He looks like an American Foxhound," I said. "You should have him tested. George Washington's dog was an American Foxhound." I left Grant with his owner, still playful and rambunctious. I wonder where his owner got "Grant" from, the movie star (Cary), or from President Ulysses Grant? Either way, this Grant is a member of a prestigious group.


John Ward Dunsmore (1856-1945)
The First Gentleman of Virginia: George Washington at the Hunt (c. 1777)
Frances Tavern Museum, New York City

Information on the painting is on page 20 of:
Images of America: Woodbrook Hunt Club
Joy Keniston-Longrie
Arcadia Publishing, 2009

I've written about Jewel, an American Foxhound, who won several dog shows. And my post George Washington and his Dogs discusses how Washington bred the American Foxhound from English and French hounds, and the names he gave his large menagerie of hounds.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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The Beagle and The Hare

Debra Chamberlin writes about The Aesthetics of Foxhunting:

I kinda think Teddy is a beagle; his legs are short like a beagle's and his ears are longer than the foxhounds. I enjoyed reading this segment about hunting and Jessica Fletcher. It gave me an opportunity to call up distant memories of my own long-gone beagle, the magnificence of the hunt, and the fun of seeing the unparalleled Angela Lansbury in modified hunting livery.

Here is a Beagle, which looks like Teddy:



And here an American Foxhound, which is "taller" than the Beagle (and more handsome, I might add):



Beagles were also hunting dogs:

Beagles were developed primarily for hunting hare, an activity known as beagling...Before the advent of the fashion for foxhunting in the 19th century, hunting was an all day event where the enjoyment was derived from the chase rather than the kill. In this setting the tiny Beagle was well matched to the hare, as unlike Harriers they would not quickly finish the hunt, but because of their excellent scent-tracking skills and stamina they were almost guaranteed to eventually catch the hare. The Beagle packs would run closely together ("so close that they might be covered with a sheet") which was useful in a long hunt, as it prevented stray dogs from obscuring the trail. In thick undergrowth they were also preferred to spaniels when hunting pheasant.[Source: Wikipedia]

Debra continues:

Your readers might get a kick out of this five-minute youtube about beagles

Here is the link to the video (the embedding function has been removed). It is of rambunctious Beagle puppies scampering around. Play is training for work, and these puppies, with their cuteness factor removed a notch, will run after the hare when the time comes.

Still, there's Aesop's fable:

The Hare and the Hound

A Hound started a Hare from his lair, but after a long run, gave up the chase. A goat-herd seeing him stop, mocked him, saying "The little one is the best runner of the two." The Hound replied, "You do not see the difference between us: I was only running for a dinner, but he for his life."

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