Drabble by Kevin Fagan for March 02, 2024

My dog and I would pass a bank on our walks, he would always bark at his reflection in the windows. I felt sorry for the people in the bank, although they probably got a kick out of it too.

My dog didn’t bark at his reflection.

Wally and Buckles, both afraid of the dog in the mirror because they think it’s a different dog!

Nice job of drawing the dual Wallys there, Mr. Fagan!

At least Wally didn’t see his reflection with a steak in its mouth. For those unfamiliar with that story, it’s an old Aesop’s fable.

Garfield: Frailty, Thy name is Dog.

If a dog or cat doesn’t react to their reflection, they’re self-aware

Had a cat that would run if I showed it a mirror.

Dorian Gray lives in my bathroom mirror.

Why does he always show up when you do?

This makes me think of the Garfield strip when Garfield told Odie that Christmas was just around the corner. Odie goes to the corner of the hallway and looks to see if Christmas was there. Lol

When I was a very new, very young Constable, part of our field training involved working with PSD (Police Service Dog) unit…what most call K-9 now.

A neighbouring city had a call for a break and enter at the old Army and Navy department store (not sure if anyone remembers those)…huge store, covering more than a city block, and five stories, making it virtually impossible to search with only a few police officers, and the city did not have a dog working that night. That was not unusual; as much as police dogs are commonplace now, they were still a relatively new thing in the early 80s, so mutual-aid agreements meant sharing limited resources.

We entered the store through the same kicked-in door that the bad guy(s) used, followed by a couple of the other city’s Constables. Brutus (the monster doggie) didn’t immediately pick up a scent, so we did it the hard way, with him on leash, aisle by aisle, starting in the sub-basement.

We got to the second floor – ladies’ clothing – and Brutus indicated he’d found a trace, so he was let off leash. He got a couple aisles ahead of us and we heard a roar, a loud thump and a cracking noise…we found him, looking a bit bewildered, shaking his head and glaring at the cement post where the full-length magnifying mirror used to be…in the darkness, he’d come ’round a corner and saw a huge (much bigger than him), really ugly dog coming at him, so he charged.

We ultimately got the hapless burglers and handed them off to the other city’s lads. I sutured up the cut in Brutus’ forehead…I was also a Medic, it was just one stitch, and there were no 24 hour vet clinics at that time. The Dog Handler went back to the store next day and paid out of pocket for the mirror, and for the box of lemon danish that Brutus got into a bit later…well, he was a copper after all, LOL…

Can’t get past the dog watcher.

Seeing-eye dog.

Did think dogs had the same problem with their reflection as birds.

His reaction reflects badly on him

Drabbles seem to have moved to a bigger house