.. and I thought I was quick to judge.

Today I had Bailey out for his morning walk when this lady came along with some big yellowish dog. Not a lab or retriever but some other biggish dog who’s breed I couldn’t even take a guess at. Anyhow, as usual the two dogs were straining to get near each other and I figured Bailey would be his usual playful self so I wasn’t too worried. They walked up to each other, sniffed each other for about 2.5 seconds and then Bailey started growling and they got into a big scrap.

Luckily we managed to pry them apart before anything really happened but it was Bailey who started it. I was shocked! What can dogs really learn about each other within a few seconds worth of sniffing? What do they sense or smell in each other that lets them know, ok.. I hate you. I wonder is their perception better than ours, are they a better judge of character than humans are? I mean they don’t waste all the time we do on the getting to know you, they appear to just go with their gut instinct. Something I wish I’d done a few times. Then again, perhaps it’s a more flawed method than ours… it’s not like I’ve never instinctively disliked someone in the start and later learned that they were quite likeable.

Perhaps I’m putting too much energy into the way dogs think.

Tonight I’m home alone… Xander has gone out for goodbye drinks with some of the guys he works with. Someone is leaving or something, he told me but it’s all a blur now. All I know is I got to just eat whatever I wanted for dinner and didn’t have to worry about what someone else wants, when they want it or how they want it. That’s kind of nice sometimes. Bailey doesn’t like it so much though, he’s doing his thing where he stares out the window and is fully alert to any sound that resembles a key in the lock. He loves Xander so much.. more than me I think sometimes. All animals like him better, it sucks. I’m hoping when we finally have a child that I’ll have my day in the sun, I mean I am the one with the milk jugs afterall. He can’t beat that…

Haven’t been to class since the exams. I was so sure they were going to be brutal but they weren’t… not even in the slightest. I didn’t find them any more difficult than the previous set of exams, which I did quite well on. I’m seriously thinking about not bothering to go back and just waiting for my invitation for the profiel toets. Which is the big test at the end that is required by the government to prove that I am at NT2 (Nederlands als een tweede taal – Dutch as a second language) level. I’m worried that the gov’t will get a knot in their face about my lack of attendance though. Technically they can give us a fine if I don’t complete the course properly. Until the 1.5 hours of class time becomes worth the 1.5 hours of travel, I ain’t going…