"Baby Dog" by Kate Fischer, 10/6/08 (MSN Paint)For those of you who know that today is my birthday, do not be alarmed -- I am not going to ask that you read a sentimental tribute to myself! I shared my birthday (at least 14 of them) with a goofy-looking, pointy-headed, blue-eyed dalmatian named Baby Blue Fischer. She wasn't actually goofy-looking until her head got pointed when she was about a year old. Something (we never found out what, so I guess that makes it Idiopathic Pointy Head Syndrome) caused the muscle on the top of her head to atrophy, which meant that she would need to wear a hat if she didn't want other dalmatians -- ones with nicely rounded beans -- to laugh at her. Fortunately, vanity was never an issue for Baby, so we were never forced to look for a doggy millinery shop! Oh, but I'm digressing...So Baby ended up goofy-looking; but she did have the most beautiful blue eyes, which, if you're into bloodlines and things like that, is not a desirable trait in a dalmatian. (We are not into bloodlines.) It was those eyes which made her stand out from what seemed like dozens of brothers and sisters. We chose the puppy with the blue eyes.
Besides having a pointed head and blue eyes, Baby was set apart from ODs (other dalmatians) by her temperament. We had unwittingly chosen a dog that we later learned was, by nature, high strung and not very good around people. While Baby could seem a little tightly wired at times -- like whenever someone rang the doorbell, or when, as a puppy, she would pee all over the floor in excitement every time the Family returned from an outing -- she was, for the most part, a laid-back, happy-go-lucky people dog. She loved everyone -- especially kids. I tended to get a little high-strung myself when we had visitors with small children, but I never saw Baby show unease when little ones got in her space, wanting to pet her and touch her spots.
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