Doggone it

I'm more a cat person than a dog person, but there are some dogs I like a lot. The cranky ones that are the size of a Buick, not so much. All they want to do is growl and bite my asterisk*

SSCTDGG

And I'm all for a good time, lotta laughs, Mr. Sociable.  But may I throw a caution flag in the air long enough to ask a question:

What good does it do to have a contest to choose The Ugliest Dog In The World?

I know, they put it on the TV news, not long after the Westminster Dog Show, which always seems to be won by some pooch with an odd name.  I was going to say it's always some name like "Prince Oswald's Ruby of Kankakee" before I decided to look it up in order to report to you that the winner...of this year's Westminster Dog Show...is.......Sussex Spaniel Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee.

Well now, I mean, really.  What happened to "Fido," "Rover," "Chief," and "Donald," the traditional names for canines?

ABC's Cecilia Vega
with SweePee

I got sidetracked.  What's on my mind is, why do humans get a boot out of dragging their dogs into a contest to find the less attractive among the pack? Does that make us feel better about ourselves, to find an "ugly mutt" to scorn?

What if SweePee Rambo of Encino, CA, this year's winner of that dubious doggie distinction, is actually a nice, affable, happy little dog, and Sussex Spaniel Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee, in all its supposed beauty, turns out to be a nasty little ankle-biter?

Not trying to sprinkle on anybody's dog biscuit, but I think there are much better criteria for us to use in judging our animal companions.

But I don't want to hound you about it.