This site has gone to the dogs

(Photo of me with Ben and Barry by Peter Fox)

As most of you know, I’m completely devoted to my two dachshunds, Ben and Barry—enough to miss attending one of the Arizona basketball games last weekend to take care of a very sick Ben.

Because of my obsession, I subscribe to the magazine Bark (“the modern dog magazine”). Imagine my total amazement last week to see my two passions—dogs and basketball—together in Bark! The cover’s sidebar said, “College Basketball’s Best: Dogs Make Great Teammates,” referring to the article inside, “Full Court Pooch” by Maria M. Cornelius.

What an article! In a full-page picture, Pat Summitt is talking to Candace Parker during the game against us last November. Both are dog owners, and the article describes the relationship of Pat’s Sally Sue (yellow lab) and Candace’s Fendi (St. Bernard mix) to their respective owners. Pat reflects on the similarities in coaching players and training puppies; Candace reflects on Fendi’s attributes of loyalty, joyful attitude, speed, and anticipation—all qualities with basketball parallels.

Do Scout and Cody (Golden Retrievers) provide Tara challenges similar to coaching Stanford basketball players, and does Brooke see any relationship between Tucker’s behavior (her chocolate lab) and playing basketball?

As a booster, I have to admit that I find few parallels from my dog-related life versus my basketball-related life. There are a few common “commands” and vocabulary: “sit,” “breakfast,” and “dinner” that are useful communication to both my dogs and traveling boosters. Perhaps my yelling “squirrel” to Ben could be equated with Tara’s “be more aggressive.”

But that’s enough. Bark didn’t interview me.

(photos of Ben with Scout and Cody taken nearly 10 years ago, when they needed coaching!)