Dogs like us

The sun has brought out the flowers, the flip-flops, the ice-cream stands, the short shorts, people who shouldn’t wear short shorts wearing them regardless… and the dogs in Riegrovy Sady park, a five-minute walk from the radio station. I often go to the park after work or on the weekend, just to sit on a bench or lie on the grass and soak up some sunshine.

Some park visitors may appreciate the ample opportunities for people watching that it affords. After all, Riegrák, as it is nicknamed by Prague residents, draws quite a mixed crowd of locals: mothers with their children, foreigners from all over, groups of teenagers in Jamaican garb drinking beer in the sun, neighborhood girls in bikinis, hoping to get a head start on their summer tan.

But I go there for the dog watching. And with its many canines, Riegrovy Sady is a real prime location for people like me, dog lovers without dogs.

Some of them have become like friends to me, because I see them so often. There’s the Irish wolfhound. He’s of a big, imposing build and reminiscent of a creature from pre-historic times. Often, he plays with smaller dogs, dachshunds or pugs, but he seems to have an awareness of his size and never overpowers his tiny playmates. It’s quite a sight.

There’s also a gang of Scottish terriers – one neighborhood resident has three of them, and they walk through the park in a row, dutifully shuffling up the hill like oversized ants.

And then there are my favorites – the sassy neighborhood Chihuahuas. A beige one I quite often see in the park is always starting fights with the other dogs, fearless despite his small size. A few days ago, he walked straight up to one of the other park regulars, a statuesque Great Dane, and started barking furiously. The Great Dane nonchalantly ignored him. I wonder if bigger dogs shrug such behavior off as just another case of a Napoleon complex.

With so many different kinds of puppies, there has to be some sort of psychology to which you prefer, and often, the owners’ appearance is mirrored in the appearance of their dog. Chihuahuas make excellent purse dogs and thus, their owners are most often tiny girls with big bags. The Irish wolfhound’s owner does not look like a dinosaur, but she does have a certain outdoorsy look, and with such a big creature, I’m sure you better love the outdoors.

In Czech, there is a saying “jaký pán, takový pes”, a spin on the old adage “like father, like son”( father and son are replaced with dog owner and dog, which should tell you something about how much of a canine-loving nation the Czechs are). And though I don’t want to offend any pug owners, I think more often than not, the saying applies.