(23 records of a saddle)
(the saddle feed)
(introduction)
(中文)
Record no. 23
Like the father in Chulip, I spend every day worrying about our dog Xiaohei’s reputation.
Just now when I was taking him out for a walk, a lady walking a big red fluffy dog walked by us. She was about to let her dog sniff Xiaohei, but when she recognized him she immediately tugged her own dog away, whispering “you can’t play with this dog.” I’m pretty sure I’d seen her dog before at the dog park, where Xiaohei goes to bark at other dogs at the top of his lungs. He never bites them or anything like that — even when he’s happily playing he still barks. That’s just how he is. But it seems to scare the other dogs and, even more so, their owners.
I can’t walk Xiaohei anywhere these days without someone recognizing him. He’s a quite distinctive looking mutt, and is only made more memorable by Xiaoxi’s propensity to make him wear dresses when he goes out — ostensibly to protect his belly from gathering filth (he’s very short). I used to think random people calling out his name on the street was a good thing: everyone loves Xiaohei. Yet now I’m starting to wonder if there’s some disdain behind their recognition. “This is the dog that loves to bark,” I imagine them saying. “This is the dog who doesn’t know how to play nice with all the other dogs.”
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