Today I was thinking of the old television series Rin Tin Tin and Lassie. Both of these weekly shows had one common factor, they were based on a boy and his dog. From that natural bond came each weekly plot. A plot which would end in one scene the boy with his arm around the dog.

In today's world of high tech and special effects I suppose those programs would seem a little lame to the modern viewer. However the magic in that natural bond between boy and dog would still exist, even if it may seem to be faded. Of course, if we wanted to have one of our children run with a dog on television we would need to place them on a diet. The inhumane society would have to get involved because dogs like the German Shepherds Dog and the Collie suffer from hip dysplasia and elbow problems. It would be considered to be cruel to make such creatures hop for too long. I say hop because most can no longer run. They would have to check that the boy was not hugging the dogs too tightly or playing too roughly with them.

In the case of the Collie I am certain the dog used would not even be aware of what was going on around it. As their heads narrowed through show breeding their brains seemed to disappear as well.

Breeders of the once strong, agile German Shepherds Dog now tell you to not let pups or young dogs jump, climb or run too much until they are at least six months of age. This is due to poor structure problems and they say that it can lead to crippling the dog. If we do the math that these same types give us for dog to human age comparison, that would be like restricting a child's movement until they were three to four years of age. This is if we believe one year of a dog's life is equal to seven years of a human's life which is simply more useless miss-information. The boys used on the series would not need anyone to do anymore than to take away the chips and the game boy controls from them. They may need to be taught how to run and laugh. My this is getting to be a bit confusing. Thinking of this one might well ask, "How really advanced are we"?

To bring back the innocence of those times is now only possible through animation………..that when one really thinks about it is a very sad statement. For even through the make believe of animation we have lost the ability to dream and imagine in the innocence that once was very much………."Normal". Somewhere between the land of "What once was"………and the "Domain of what now is" Rinny and Lassie still hold a brave vigil over an in depth image of our innocence and common sense awaiting our long over due awakening. Perhaps all it will take is for us to remember to get us to once again dream.

©Mike McConnery/Baden K9 Incorporated, 15/04/07

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