What Breed of Dog Is That?

It's late and I'm very tired but Lola needs walking before bed. With any luck we can do a quick three block circuit, poop, pee and call it a night. Alas, there are always unforeseen complications when you're escorting a dog down city streets, no matter what the time of day.

Lola's sniffing around our neighbor's forbidden flower beds when a nosy, dog-loving passer-by stops to pat her head. Great, this puerile fool is going to extend the walk by about ten minutes. But I briskly return the dog-loving passer-by's goggle-eyed grin nonetheless. I've one eye watching Lola revel in the attention and the other anxiously examining my neighbor's curtains for signs of movement. 

'What breed of dog is that?' the passer-by asks between slobbering dog licks on their lips.

'Chilean Sea Bassett Hound.' 

'I'm sorry, a what?'

'A Chilean Sea Bassett Hound.' I repeat. 'They are specially bred to dive off boats and dig holes on the ocean floor looking for oysters and clams. We rescued her from a coral reef off the coast of Valparaiso.'

'Oh. Er, okay. She's very cute isn't she ... what's with the one floppy ear?'

'Well, they use their ears like flippers when they're swimming and she must have broken hers and couldn't swim anymore. That's probably why the Chilean pescadors abandoned her on the coral reef.'

'Oh well, she's very, very cute and she's very friendly.'

'Yes. She probably thinks you're a fish.' 

'Okay. Bye bye little puppy. Bye bye.'

(Under breath) 'Moron.'