Kickass and dogs with coronavirus

Kickass, the doorstop dog, shared the news with the keeper that the first dog to die of the coronavirus was a seven-year-old Staten Island German Shepherd named Buddy.  There was also news of two cats in New York being infected with the virus, but apparently surviving.  Though more than four million people around the world have contracted coronavirus, only 25 or so pets have done so, all catching it from their owners, and, except for Buddy, all the pets recovered.

Kickass observes that the stay-home, social-distancing measures people have taken to control the spread of the coronavirus have been particularly hard on dogs, depriving them of long uninterrupted daytime naps—often on the forbidden couch or bed, and preventing them from getting up on their hind legs to sniff things on the kitchen counter or the dining room table.

The excessive displays of affection that dogs traditionally perform in welcoming people home after an absence is not part of the current stay-home scene, and that is a good thing, Kickass asserts, since it is largely based on a dog’s state of hunger or need to get outside to pee right now, and should not be interrupted as “Oh, I am so glad to see you, you wonderful human master!”

Kickass will rest his case that dogs are smarter than people on the fact that there has not been a “First dog” in the White House under the current administration, and no dog has joined Mitch McConnell and his gang in their excessive marking of the White House as their territory.

When dogs have trouble, it is invariably caused by their keepers, and that includes the coronavirus.

RIP, Buddy!