The Big Ragu

I’m not sure exactly when it started; probably when I was a kid andloved going to my Aunt Sophie’s house in Brooklyn because she had a dog, a fat beagle named Spike.

And I would sit and pet him and pet him and pet him for hours.

And so my love affair with dogs began. My parents never let me have my own although I swore I would take care of it but you know how most parents react to that promise and how most kids break that promise anyway. So I had to settle for red-eared turtles and goldfish.

I actually had to get married to get a dog! Well not really but finally got my own dog back when I was married. My husband (at the time now the ex) had a dog allergy and we heard pugs were one of the breeds suitable for people with allergies. And so Clarice the Wonder Pug became my first official dog. And yes, I did name her after Clarice Starling from “Silence of the Lambs” because I loved the way Anthony Hopkins pronounced “I’ll help you catch him Clarice”….y’know I am in Radio so I have a thing for voices and pronunciations. I’m not sure where the Wonder Pug part came from but it stuck. (Although I did see an Odd Couple episode where Oscar Felix owned a greyhound named Golden Earring and they called it “The Wonder Dog”….ooops, maybe I stole it from them!)

The love affair blossomed. Between Clarice and me that is. And yes I did get her in the divorce and we spent the next 13 years together until she died in her sleep a few weeks shy of 16. She taught me everything about dogs and she opened my heart to the plight of animals less fortunate than she. Together we experienced life, death, happiness, sorrow, loss, and accomplishments. I shared Clarice with my radio audience for many years. When I would meet someone for the first time, he/she never asked how I was…it was always “How’s the Wonder Pug”??

When she left me in 2006, the hole in my heart appeared. And as I always say, it gets a little smaller but it’ll always be there.

This past February, Clarice guided me to my next dog, Carmine the Big Ragu. (Yes I’m all about entertainment!) For those of you who are fans of the TV show “Laverne & Shirley”, Carmine was Laverne’s bf played by Eddie Mekka who I had a crush on. Hence the name of my adopted Boxer/Bulldog mix. My first male dog (everyone in my family always had females) and my first BIG dog! Carmine, or CTBR as I refer to him on-air, has now joined the ranks of his older sister Clarice in being part of my radio show.

And he’s a big goofy clown-of-a dog!

So….what’s the point of all this? Am I a dog expert? No. A dog trainer? Nope. Just one of those people who loves dogs, probably more than humans sometimes. And I want to share my various canine experiences with you. Who knows?

Maybe something I write will help you with your pooch or guide you in a direction that you’re seeking. We shall see.