Dogtown

Just as Virginia is for lovers, Berlin is for dogs.

Diego the Labradoodle has come to Berlin with me and is making his mark. Sure he pees on trees and bushes and marks things that way, but he also is warming the hearts of Germans all over the city.

Diego comes to work every day with me, much like in the US. But now, instead of sitting in the back of my 'carpool-chic' station wagon, he leads the way-- off leash-- to work.

Sometimes we walk, and sometimes I ride my bike. And Diego, a reformed leash-puller, trots down the street, stopping when I yell his name at intersections, and sitting once he reaches the street. Good boy!

He's new at this off-leash thing though, and he's had some run ins to which I will confess here:

- barked at Japanese couple canoodling in Mon Bijou park after dark. I was riding my bike, and he ran ahead of me and barked at them and scared the shit out of those two. 残念!

- on a sunny post-work walk through Mon Bijou again, he ran up to some homeless guys who were making a meal of a sausage and some booze, and promptly sat in front of them until they generously gave him a chunk...ok 2... of sausage. danke!

- going up the elevator at work, the doors opened at the 3rd floor (4th floor for you Americans out there) and he barked, I mean really barked, at the cleaning woman in her hijab. Diego, as I've learned, is afraid of people wearing hoods, and this poor woman's head scarf flicked that horrible switch. Entschuldigung!

I do hope my list does not get any longer. Of course, when he misbehaves, or looks like he is going to misbehave, I put him back on the leash and make his Sit and Down a couple of times.

ok, so bad behavior aside, as I mentioned, Berlin is a dog's paradise.

Today I will tell you about our favorite Mon Bijou park. Mon Bijou is along the Spree, and conveniently located on our route to/from work. So everday, we pass through the park. I've made a number of friends there: Dwight and Yago, Claudia and Jamil, Ian and Fritz, Mel and I can't remember his dog's name, among others. Some of the people speak English, and some I just smile at. (in the photo, Diego is playing with Sloanie, Jamil, Bonbon and Hara.)

There are a couple of question people always ask:

1) girl or boy: most people in Germany don't 'fix' their dogs, so there are often the 'balls' issues and dominance.

2) is he castrated? yes, he was neutered, and he is proud of it. related to question #1

3) how old is he? I'm not sure why they ask this. Just to make small talk I think. And it works, I chat back.

4) and the ubiquitous 'what is he?' Mostly they think he is a funny looking poodle, but then they find out he has a dumb name like 'Labradoodle' and the laughs start. He is really playful and runs super fast, so he is making quite an impression with the dog owners. I hear them saying, 'oh this is the dog I was telling you about.' And friends of people I work with always say 'so THIS is Diego.' I rarely hear 'oh so this is that great American girl you told me about.' (Perhaps they whisper it in complicated German so I don't understand.)

So the dogs aren't fixed, and so there are exciting dominance issues, girl dogs in heat, and fun stuff like that. Did I mention that having a dog off leash in a park is illegal? More later, I'm off to the dog park, I mean the park.