musings, Photography

Dog-Sitting

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We were taking care of our friend’s dog.

She’s a very tall, slender girl with a lovely disposition.

I’m not sure who was sitting whom, as we all had such a nice time. It was so great having a dog again, even if just temporarily!

20 thoughts on “Dog-Sitting”

      1. I had a lovely big husky/shepard cross dog when I lived in Calgary, great companion skiing, hiking, in the city, everything. And they look at you just like that. I understand your pleasure in your ‘loan-dog’

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          1. We did! Her name was Kim and I was later told (is this right?) that in Inuktitut (not Inuvialuktun), ‘kimiq’ means dog — one of those nice stories you’d like to be true, but enjoy anyway

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          2. Unfortunately I’m not on certain ground. I think it’s Qimmiq, so you’re close. I only know that because I read about a controversy in Iqaluit around non-Inuit naming their dogs “dog” (Qimmig). I have been working on a Dene language, so my understanding of Inuktitut isn’t great. Personalities imbue names, though, so in the end, I don’t think names matter much. 🙂

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          3. thanks, and transliteration means spelling is variable — my Kim was named for entirely other reasons; that apparent overlap came along later. I think we do have to be careful about appropriation, and equally careful of overreaction that just puts everybody in a strait jacket. Sometimes, too, context is determinant: I was in a senior citizen exercise class where our own nickname for ourselves was “Geezer Fitness” — in our mouths, with our pronunciation and context, it was not only respectful, it was empowering. And it was fun. In another mouth, another tone of voice, another context, it could be insulting. I also remember the time a 9 year old girl, daughter of a very feminist mother, indignantly corrected me for referring to her as a ‘girl’ and told me she was a ‘woman’ — and I told her, no, you are not. Let us respect words when correctly used, and not make them wholesale unacceptable — baby & bathwater stuff, and I shall now stop ranting.

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          4. Agreed. As an honorary northerner having just finished my 5th NWT winter, I am sensitive to cultural and language appropriation. A friend wanted her grandson to call her kokum, which is Cree for grandmother. My friend isn’t Cree, nor is anyone in her family. She just thought it was “cute.” I had quite a time explaining why it’s inappropriate for her to use that word within her family context. When I stated that names don’t mean much, I was referring to personal names , not to vocabulary. Rant away! Cheers.

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