We take care of our dogs. Really, we do.

After taking the dogs out to the dog park earlier this morning, we decided to stop off at the Farmer’s Market and work on socializing Simba a little more. The dogs are always a little easier to handle when they’re just a little bit pooped out after running around the dog park.

This morning was a little on the toasty side and they’re also just finished a long game of chase and wrestle, so naturally the dogs were panting pretty hard. To top it off, Simba’s not exactly great on the leash and tends to pull a lot (working on it) so it makes him look like he’s panting really really hard.

There’s a very convenient doggie water fountain in Marion Square, so after camping out there for about 10 minutes letting the dogs drink their fill we headed off to walk around. We didn’t get very far before some lady walked up to us and said “Your puppy is way too thirsty so I’m donating this bottle of water to him. It just hurts my heart to see him like that.” Just like that and walked away. Tried to tell her that he had just been at the fountain drinking for the past 10 minutes, but she was already walking away by then.

Now I appreciate the concern over the dog and everything, but just the way the woman spoke to us made both the wife and me feel like we were terrible dog owners dragging this poor thirsty puppy around. No questions, no bothering to ask if the dog is all right or anything. A simple “Is your puppy thirsty? Does he need some water?” would have been much nicer. Then I would have been able to explain that he’s already had lots to drink at the water fountain and then stopped at the Good Dog Bakery booth a few meters away to top off for good measure. He’s just panting because it’s hot, not because he’s thirsty. Dogs do that. When it’s hot, they pant and hang their tongues out. When they’re thirsty, they don’t pant; they drink water.

Oh, and another thing for parents. If your kid wants to offer someone’s dog a treat or some food, tell them ask the owners first. Even though most dogs will eat most everything, some things end up coming right back up a few hours later for the owners to deal with. And some dogs don’t always react well to a kid thrusting something into its’ face without warning. The wife would like to apologize for startling the poor girl trying to give Nala a bite of her cheese cracker. She really didn’t mean to scare anyone. Her loud “No!” was meant for Nala and not at all for the girl.