"My Life as a Dog"
By: Bridget Robinson
(Source: Yahoo Images - Dogs)
I thought this essay was very eye-opening and the author wanted to get across to a large audience the idea of how much dogs impacts humans' lives everywhere. Being a dog owner myself, I related greatly to the content within this essay being that dogs are a lot of work but you love them regardless the responsibilities that come with owning them. "My Life as a Dog" written by Jonathan Foer is an essay that shows the logic behind a dogs actions and why they need to express certain behaviors and expresses the importance of conserving parks in cities as well as the benefits of owning a dog.
Something new and interesting that I learned from this essay was that Central Park's real estate would be worth more than $500 trillion if it was sold for a profit. The point of this statement in this essay is to show that even though the park is worth this much money, the city refuses to sell it because of the importance the land has to both humans and animals, such as dogs. According to Foer, the more the dogs are able to run around and expel energy, the happier and less aggressive they behave. This interests me because in today's economy and with how twisted/greedy the market is in major cities, I would have expected for major real estate buyers and sellers to try to sell parts of the park to make a profit but the importance of this land overruled the economy. I thought it was also interesting learning about the way a dogs physical activity level impacts their behavior.
I strongly agree that dogs positively impact humans lives and that we need to continue to make an effort to conserve this planet and that "nothing facilitates indifference or forgetfulness [as] much as distance" (Foer 216). I agree and connect with this personally because I have lived life both with and without a dog and have come to the conclusion that my life felt more complete with a dog in it. Also, our planet is a delicate system that needs to be maintained and taken care of because global warming is changing our seasons as well as our weather patterns which are upsetting habitats and the animals in them. Humanity is the cause of these environmental changes therefore we must continue to conserve the planet.
A point I feel the author should have considered when writing this essay was including a more detailed list of all the responsibilities a dog owner has when owning a dog to show the audience just how much dog owners love their dogs.
Source of picture:
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/25600000/DOG-ssssss-dogs-25606625-1024-768.jpg
I am dog owner as well and I could not agree with you more that owning a dog is a very gratifying experience. My family moved to Stevens Point in 2007 and because of the housing market crash we had a hard time selling our old house so all five of us had to live in a three bedroom apartment for two years. My siblings and I desperately wanted a dog but we just didn't have the space. One day a few months after we finally moved out of the cramped apartment and into our new house my dad was reading the paper and he read that there were Black Lab-German Shepherd mix puppies for sale for twenty five dollars. We got the last puppy and named her Carly, it was the best twenty five dollars we ever spent. Like Jonathan Foer, our dog is the love of our lives. What I liked most about Foer's essay was his vivid imagery. I think Foer's use of imagery was a powerful persuasion tool that aided in his appeal to the reader. I also liked how he never states his stance on the leash hour vote but you can clearly tell that he is all for letting dogs run free in parks.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that dogs play a very big role in people’s lives. I myself also own a dog and think that a dog is a great thing to come home to every day. Yes, dogs are hard to take care of and train, but in the end having a dog is very rewarding. I do believe this article should have had more points on what dog owners in a large city like New York have to go though. When my dog has to go to the bathroom I just let her out the back door into the yard. I don’t think this would work in New York because most of the houses are apartment complexes and most people don’t have yard so people have to find different ways to let their dog use the bathroom.
ReplyDeleteI think that the city is being smart in refusing to sell the park. Central Park holds many historic structures and memories. Central Park is a beautiful place of nature not only for humans, but for animals too. The connection you made with this article to global warming is very creative. Our world is changing every day, and humans impact this greatly. In order to savor the beauty of our world we have to consider the everyday choices we make.
I, myself do not own a dog. I do own a cat and I have seen many people and families with dogs growing up. I would say that I have to agree with you in saying pets hold a certain degree of benefits for the families who own them as well as some families have to make changes to their lives to accommodate them. I also agree that this essay is important to understanding that we have to learn to coexist with not only the people around us, but the animals and nature as well. I can also see many problems arising if they choose to get rid of the unleashing hours. Like most living beings, dogs have a desire to be free and if they get rid of the ability to be free, they may end up harming the dogs and possibly the people around them.
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