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Bauer in NYC
By Administrator | May 19, 2008
Sunday morning I woke up early, about 7am, damn jetlag, and couldn’t sleep. My friends were all crashed and I knew I had a few hours minimum before they awoke. Our general routine is to brunch about noon. I stayed at my friend Cody and Judson’s apartment in Manhattan. Cody recently bought a Chocolate Lab that lives with them in the apartment. I decided pretending to sleep wasn’t going to work so I grabbed the dog and took him on a two hour walk through the Hudson River Park, Meat Packing District, and Greenwich Village that brisk and sunny Sunday morning in the city. More bliss.
Now this dog, which he named Bauer, has been a source of entertainment for us and Cody. Aside from gawking at the expense of owning a dog in the city (with doggy day care, dog walkers, weekend retreats to the country during his trips, etc), he says it costs about the same as a monthly payment of a BMW. Ouch.
But people in NYC love their dogs, and on a Sunday morning there are a ton out. Before I get to the meat of the walk, I just want to take a moment to relive a funny story I’m reminded about Cody teaching Bauer to not pee in the apartment. The scene was an early morning in Cody’s room….
Cody: “Wait a minute Bauer and I’ll take you outside.”
Bauer: “whimper whimper”
Cody: “Hold on a minute, Bauer, I’m almost ready to take you out.”
Bauer: ‘Whimper, cry…” [proceeds to lift leg and pee heavily, seeping into shoes and clothes in closet]
Cody: “Damnit Bauer, damnit, stop it stop it!! Shit!”
Bauer: “Ahhhhhs” a sigh of relief.
Cody: [in state of desperation….runs over and grabs dog’s penis and pinches off the pee….]
Bauer: [Puzzled]
Cody: “To the shower we go to finish.” [lifting dog and carrying him to bathroom, careful to keep a firm grip]
Bauer: [Licks Cody’s face.]
True story. Ouch. Anyway, dogs are so common in NYC that most places allow them inside. Others don’t. I did see one couple request a table in a brunch place by the window. As they sat and ate, they held onto the handle of the leash inside while the dog, connected to the other end, was outside the window patiently sitting on the sidewalk.
So I took Bauer out for this long walk and had a good time. Cody has said that he has met more people in the few months he’s had the dog than in the 4 or 5 years in NY previously. It’s a sub-culture.
As I was walking, people would come up and say, “Wow, your dog is beautiful”. I internalized deep down that they were just talking about me.
We walked through the park and Bauer instinctively led me to the dog park, where it’s a mass of animals and people running and sniffing and such. I let Bauer off the leash and he went over to the doggie kiddy pool, where a couple of other dogs were drinking its water.
My jaw dropped when Bauer jumped in and immediately started peeing in the water. It was a gross enough act, but what compounded the fact was that while he was peeing, he was drinking simultaneously from the same source. I just hoped the other owners didn’t catch that smart move.
I had another first experience, which was the fun act of curbing my dog, which I’ve spoken of in previous French posts. Never have I stooped so low to do this publically, but because of the mess in Montpellier it took on a new meaning for me and I was glad to comply here in NYC. The problem was that Bauer went twice, and I only had one bag, which I promptly threw away after the first session. I ended up having to tell people, “it’s ok, one second, I’ll be right back”, as I run down to the public trash cans and rip portions of the sac in order to do my civic duty.
When I told Cody about this he told me about a woman in his building who has two dogs and carries around two sacs during the walks. He notices she never throws them away afterwards and asked her why. She responded, “well it keeps my hands warm, of course!” He was speechless.
I later asked Cody what his favorite thing about having the dog in the city, and he replied…I get to spoon him at night! I think the story is finished.
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