The Dog's Social Life

My dog's social life is more vibrant than mine. She's likely more curious and friendlier than I am. (Not the man though. Between us, he's generally more sociable although he has a tendency to stare at his phone.) She gets invites to run with new fweends at the parks, go on excursions and such. I don't know if she needs friends, or if that's a human concept we impose on her. She needs socialization, certainly. I expect her to at least get along with other dogs and not break out into arguments and fights all the time. That's what school is for. She socializes, I don't need to. Hahahaha.

Meets at the dog parks are the best. Those are the type that we play by ear, depending on schedules and the all-important weather. It's not a 'date' per se with anyone. It's just a 'we'll be there, see you if we see you.' Of course it's a different thing when we ask our neighbors if they want to join us at the park with the dogs or if they want a lift. Those are always last-minute check-ins, and everyone knows it. It's a pleasure interacting with some of our neighbors. We're friendlier with two couples because we seem to be chatting on the same sort of thought frequency, which means that there're fewer chances of misunderstanding one another. We keep it civil and we don't impose on one another's lives. These said neighbors, were absolute gems during the Circuit Breaker and Phase 1, and still a pleasure to meet now.

The thing about socializing with other pawrents. I get to have some cute photos of dogs and all. Conversation topics are usually kept civil and easy. I'm interested in knowing about the dogs and their habits or their poop, heh. But I'm not amenable to hearing anyone tell me how to train my dog or what to feed her with. I do get some tactless in-my-face know-it-alls. (Not referring to friends with dogs here. They already know me, and going out with them is always fun.)

I'm less keen to get into extended conversations with the humans. Longer chats invariably draw out stark differences in certain values and beliefs we hold. Sometimes I don't even get their sense of humor. As long as we keep it at schmoozing level, that's cool with me. I'm sure whoever I interact with would share the same thoughts. None of us want or need to complicate our social lives. 

That said, I do meet one or two pawrents who are sane and nice human beings. These are rare. While we wouldn't exactly be friends, I wouldn't mind categorizing them as 'acquaintances'. These would be pawrents whom I would go out of my way to help with their dogs (not other aspects of their lives) if they need it. Of course I wouldn't butt my nose in where it's not wanted. 

My social circle hasn't exploded at all. I don't want it to. The increase is minimal, and that's kept to the outer circle of acquaintances. It's my routine that has shifted to include meeting more people at a superficial level. I'm not changing my schedule to suit them — because of the dogs and how small Singapore is, we're headed out to similar venues at similar timings, and that makes it smoother to arrange for meets that are done in under an hour. I can deal with that.