is he a shih tzu??

In terms of dogs, I mean. Specifically, not our dogs. More specifically, other people�s poodles.

As Greg pointed out a little while ago, are poodles even a dog breed? Shouldn�t they be used in soccer practice, or as target practice? Sorry if I am offending you poodle lovers out there, but to us, they rank up there with the chihuahuas. Even though we own a breed of dog that is considered �compact�, they are vicious. Really vicious, and would take on a Rottweiler any day. (case in point, I have seen Aoife maniacally approach a Rottweiler in the attempt to bite it�s head off. It was rather frightening.)

Anyhow, we finally got rid of Tequila, the Poodle from Hades. They packed up last week and were outta here. And remember how I was nice and picked up the daughter and brought her home from school every day last week? Well the mother saw us on Monday at school and pretended we didn�t even exist. Not even a thank you. Nice. I will never feel sorry for anyone again. (Aside from close relatives and friends of course.) Meaning no more favours for any neighbours, no matter how desperate they are.

Digressing as usual�.Tequila was out of the picture as of last week. Finally~ our dogs would no longer be growling at the back door, drooling on the glass, tearing down my curtains and foaming at the mouth in an attempt to get outdoors and kick some poodle ass for being in our yard for the zillionth time that day. Problem solved.

Tuesday morning we were getting Clare ready for school and the dogs start the ordeal all over at the back door. We see a small teeny tiny white poodle in our yard. This one is even smaller than Tequila. This happened twice on Tuesday and again Wednesday. That morning Greg was actually outside with Reilly and the new poodle on the block prances up into our yard. Owner lady comes up and gets it, doesn�t say word one to Greg. Do people forget there is a leash law in military housing? Do people think it�s ok to let their dogs walk themselves all over the neighbourhood, just so they, the owners, won�t have to clean up their own yards? In all my years of living in normal, non-military housing, I have never seen this problem as I have the last three years Greg has been in the military. Oh the joys of living around trashy people.

Just awhile ago poodle dog meanders into our yard. Again. This time our dogs go berserk. Greg went outside to confront the owner(s). As I lifted Aoife up and away from the door, she was snarling and scratching in a futile attempt to escape outside, and I literally saw her foaming at the mouth ~ most likely thinking what a lovely morsel this small canine would be. Much like our dearly departed hamster. She had the same bizarre Charles Manson-esque stare in her eye.

The woman whom Greg confronted ended up not being the actual owner. It seems she was the mother of the man who owns the poodle. She proudly stated the poodle (and her son) had just returned stateside from Japan. (hence the Asian looking wife who doesn�t speak English) Like we care where poodle dog is from. Greg informed her that our dogs are mean and very territorial, and if they are outside and poodle dog enters their property, we are not responsible for their actions. The mother was indeed frightening: big huge bleached out hair, make up caked on�.something you would not want to encounter late at night or early in the morning. Or anytime, really. To divert the lecture, she changed the topic towards our dogs. They were still jumping and snarling and growling to get outside.

She said, �Oh is he a Shih Tzu?�.

Meaning Aoife.

I am not trying to be condescending towards her, ok maybe a little, but common sense would tell you , even if you just know the very basics about general dog breeds, that Aoife is in NO WAY a Shih Tzu.

Here is Aoife:

Here is a Shih Tzu:

Tell me, are they the least little bit similar??

No wonder I don�t �fit in� with those I am surrounded with. Am I an intellectual snob? Probably. But I just cannot deal with ignorant people. That is where I completely lose all sense of patience. Someone, please, rescue us from the backwater sticks of Northeastern America. Before I lose my mind completely.