I know all of you in America Land are thinking we have the worst dogs. Especially if you have been to a place like Germany, where every dog should be seen and not heard, much like their children, or Japan, where you just don't see any dogs, much like their children....

So maybe in the same manner, dogs in Scotland are friendly and cute and utterly out of control. Though usually less noisy, which makes me want to rule in favor of the dogs. Walking to and from class, I cross through Holyrood Park, which logically has become a playground for people and their canines. Nobody is on a leash, which I've seen before, except nobody is listening to anybody else. Dogs are just running around everywhere, sometimes fetching their own ball, sometimes fetching someone else's ball, and usually ignoring any commands issued by their owners. There are dog fights and stolen toys and dogs running across the busy roads and dogs trying to play with people who obviously do NOT want to play with a strange dog.

Even the dogs on the leashes aren't much better. I have yet to see any dog know the idea of heeling, and most of the dogs are in effect walking their owners, with the witless owner just being pulled roughly along for the ride. Even the little guys, the West Highland terriers and the pompallions and such. Especially the little guys, in fact.

It makes me appreciate the control dog owners in America have over their pets. If you can believe that.

Another interesting note about Scottish dogs: the mutts here are totally different. In the US, mutts tend to me some mix of retriever. Here, they are some kind of mix of either pitt bull or wolfhound. Lots of pit bulls, but as American Staffordshire bull terriers, not sure why they have become so popular. And they are all wonderfully friendly, which makes me want to scream and yell at government officials in the States who want it to be illegal to own a pitt bull because they're dangerous. I'm a fan of just getting rid of the people who would use a pit bull for a malicious purpose (Michael Vick, ahem) because they PEOPLE could be dangerous. I have yet to see a dog - any dog, not just a pit bull - who seemed agressive toward people or unwilling to have some friendly humanoid attention. They all seem to be wonderful dogs, if a bit wayward. I even saw a bouncy Dobermen pincher bounding up and down Arthur's Seat greeting everybody it saw along the way with a friendly wag of its butt. So I guess that's something to be said for the dogs here: they may not be the best behaved (like their children), but at least they're all happy and friendly and well-adjusted.

Oh, and they don't neuter pets here, which still surprises me everytime, and you see no stray dogs anywhere. A dog is always with an owner, however far away that person may be. you see street cats quite often, but they aren't strays, just semi-outdoor cats, all fat and happy and well-kept. A difference in animals management? In the US we can't seem to get away with not spaying/neutering out pets without having disasterous reproductive consequences.