The dog was big.
F'in big.
The size of a lion.
Maybe even a dragon.
HUGE.
"Is that a doberman?" I asked my husband, slowing down with the stroller.
"Yes," he said, slowing with me.
We were just getting to the play area across the street from our apartment. (Yes, the same play area in which the brash Aussie annoyed the hell out of me last week by asking inappropriate questions about our adoption. See post from July 27.)
"What the hell?" I said.
I had never seen a doberman in China before. In fact, most dogs in Shanghai are no bigger than, well, a small poodle...and that's pushing it. Most are so tiny they could fit in a backpack. Although dogs are still eaten in many parts of China, I don't think they're such a delicacy in Shanghai anymore (thank goodness). In fact, dogs as pets are becoming a status symbol of the new (and growing) middle class. (Though there is still that wacky dog zoo at the Shanghai Zoo; see post from July 13.)
Then the dog and its owner came from behind a bush.
"Holy shit," I said.
The Chinese woman walking the dog was tiny. Featherlike. No more than half the dog's weight. And she looked scared. As soon as she saw us with Tully in the stroller, she turned and steered the dog in the opposite direction. It was like trying to turn a bulldozer.
"What is she carrying?" I asked Andrew.
We both leaned forward.
"Oh my god," I said. "It's a bat. An aluminum bat." She carried it high in the air, clearly ready to bring it down on the dog's head if he made a move for us.
"Look at her left hand," Andrew said.
I did.
She was wearing a protective leather mitt/glove that stretched halfway up her arm. The kind policemen wear when training German shepherds for attack maneuvers.
This was not good.
A giant, vicious, unpredictable doberman being walked by a wee woman with a bat and a protective leather glove...IN THE PLAY AREA.
This is where China always gets weird. When I find myself caught in the transition between old China (in which dog meat is just another protein source) and new China (in which it's cool to have a dog). But what is missing is the in-between.
Clearly this dog owner wanted to look cool with something no other Chinese have in Shanghai. Clearly she had no idea what she was getting into. Clearly she was in over her head. Clearly we were in danger.
IN THE PLAY AREA
Needless to say, we won't be going back.
Technorati Tags: Kristin Bair O'Keeffe, Shanghai, China, dogs, culture
F'in big.
The size of a lion.
Maybe even a dragon.
HUGE.
"Is that a doberman?" I asked my husband, slowing down with the stroller.
"Yes," he said, slowing with me.
We were just getting to the play area across the street from our apartment. (Yes, the same play area in which the brash Aussie annoyed the hell out of me last week by asking inappropriate questions about our adoption. See post from July 27.)
"What the hell?" I said.
I had never seen a doberman in China before. In fact, most dogs in Shanghai are no bigger than, well, a small poodle...and that's pushing it. Most are so tiny they could fit in a backpack. Although dogs are still eaten in many parts of China, I don't think they're such a delicacy in Shanghai anymore (thank goodness). In fact, dogs as pets are becoming a status symbol of the new (and growing) middle class. (Though there is still that wacky dog zoo at the Shanghai Zoo; see post from July 13.)
Then the dog and its owner came from behind a bush.
"Holy shit," I said.
The Chinese woman walking the dog was tiny. Featherlike. No more than half the dog's weight. And she looked scared. As soon as she saw us with Tully in the stroller, she turned and steered the dog in the opposite direction. It was like trying to turn a bulldozer.
"What is she carrying?" I asked Andrew.
We both leaned forward.
"Oh my god," I said. "It's a bat. An aluminum bat." She carried it high in the air, clearly ready to bring it down on the dog's head if he made a move for us.
"Look at her left hand," Andrew said.
I did.
She was wearing a protective leather mitt/glove that stretched halfway up her arm. The kind policemen wear when training German shepherds for attack maneuvers.
This was not good.
A giant, vicious, unpredictable doberman being walked by a wee woman with a bat and a protective leather glove...IN THE PLAY AREA.
This is where China always gets weird. When I find myself caught in the transition between old China (in which dog meat is just another protein source) and new China (in which it's cool to have a dog). But what is missing is the in-between.
Clearly this dog owner wanted to look cool with something no other Chinese have in Shanghai. Clearly she had no idea what she was getting into. Clearly she was in over her head. Clearly we were in danger.
IN THE PLAY AREA
Needless to say, we won't be going back.
Technorati Tags: Kristin Bair O'Keeffe, Shanghai, China, dogs, culture
jeezus christ. that is VERY strange. i heard china has an edict againt big dogs or dogs of a certain size. a bat on a doberman? the dog'll eat her first before she can even raise a finger.
Posted by: dog insurance | January 07, 2010 at 09:34 AM
Yep, crazy, isn't it? And agreed, bat or no bat, the woman doesn't have a chance if this dog decides not to give her one.
Sticking with my solution.
Another playground.
Posted by: Kristin Bair O'Keeffe | January 08, 2010 at 06:35 AM