DOGS & MORE DOGS (and other pets)
- Chris Springman
- Mar 31, 2016
- 2 min read
Barcelonians love their dogs. Almost everyone here has at least one dog. They go everywhere--stores, restaurants, buses, the metro. Not sure how they do it so uniformly, but the dogs here all seem to be very well trained. We often see a dog sitting outside a bakery (bakeries don't seem to like dogs inside) waiting for its owner--no leash necessary, just a "stay" command. Most dogs "heel" their masters; we see very little "leash tugging." When dogs are off-leash (which is very common) they stay close to their masters. If they do stray a little, it's never very far and they always return to "heel" when signaled. Very impressive. The downside is that most dogs here are not interested in being petted by strange kids. Sad for Kat and Ellie, but we love Barcelona for its dogs.
Dogs aren't the only pets one can have! "Please, mom, I need a pet. I can't live without a pet. Can't I get a rat or a turtle? That would be easy to carry around with us and I PROMISE I would take care of it!" This said by Kat, as she misses her dog Jack terribly. Kat is a "high anxiety" kid, and pets keep her calm and are therapeutic. We discussed and decided a rat would not be acceptable to most of our rental landlords! And John and I don't want a rat! We actually considered the idea of getting another small dog, but too many of our pre-paid rental apartments do not allow pets. There's just no way to do it under our circumstances. On La Rambla one day Kat and Ellie saw a stand of small plants. Kat said, "If I can't have an animal, I want a plant to take care of!" These are Kat and Ellie's new "pets," Ro and Shelley.
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