Rose,

May 14, 2002 1:22 PM

Rose, the Dalmatian who greeted the rich and powerful at the Inn at Little Washington, died this morning at age 13...
posted by GriffX (21 comments total)

Elsewhere... A cat has also died.
posted by Nauip at 2:08 PM on May 14, 2002

"For 10 years she was at the door wearing her Mikimoto pearls and she was trained to escort the guests from the door the 10 steps to the stairs to the dining room – but she was trained not to go into the dining room,"

Excuse me, I'm going to go cry now (notice the lack of sarcasm tags). I love dogs, and all they can give to us. I'm glad we're noticing the death of this fine friend as we do the deaths of our bipedal ones.
posted by Wulfgar! at 2:15 PM on May 14, 2002

Dammit! As if we don't get enough argument over Israel vs. Palestine, India vs. Pakistan, left-wing vs. right-wing, PC vs. Mac, Netscape vs. Internet Explorer, fat vs. thin, and religion vs. atheism, you have to turn this into a dogs vs. cats thread!? When will it end? Will someone please think about the children!?

</kidding>
posted by Danelope at 2:17 PM on May 14, 2002

Wow, what a heartfelt, warm, touching and truly poigniant DOG OBITUARY.

Isn't there impending war somewhere in the world that the Washington Post can cover?
posted by SilentSalamander at 2:17 PM on May 14, 2002

So, for the 3 mefites out of 14,000 that can actually afford to eat there and have endured the 3 year waiting list......
posted by remlapm at 2:26 PM on May 14, 2002

SilentSalamander: you don't get it. This is relevant because it was a really expensive inn, see? So lots of rich, powerful, famous people had seen this dog, see? That's why it's important, m'okay?
posted by signal at 2:26 PM on May 14, 2002

It's not important, I just thought the canine hostess idea was amusing. I suppose this post is taking up valuable Israel/Palestine post space, though.
posted by GriffX at 2:38 PM on May 14, 2002

signal, its "M'kay"? And shitcan the "rich and powerful" crap. It was a well known dog. Was the dog "rich and powerful"? No, it was a well-trained faithful companion to all who cared, and a life that our species is better for having known.

fuckin' humanocentric cynical specieists! Its just a really cool dog for cryin' out loud!
posted by Wulfgar! at 2:40 PM on May 14, 2002

Griffx-

No disrespect was intended towards you. It's a good post. It's just that articles like this really make my blood boil.
posted by SilentSalamander at 2:41 PM on May 14, 2002

I'm neither rich nor powerful, but my wife and I used to go to the Inn at Little Washington once a year for our anniversary when we lived in the DC area. Rose was a part of the experience and we'll miss her.

Is this story as important as the war that's going on? No, of course not. But does it remind me of how lucky I am to live in a country where (enough) people's lives are sufficiently comfortable that such stories can make it into major newspapers? H*ll yes.
posted by sib at 2:54 PM on May 14, 2002

Please. We're trying to be bitter, resentful and detached here.
posted by crunchland at 3:27 PM on May 14, 2002

There are many animals whose lives are more worthy than those of many people, and hence, worthy of noting in their passing. This dog never harmed anyone, and may have, in her gentle presence, have affected a few of the powerful passing through so that perhaps a trace more decency crept into their actions.

My blood doesn't boil over a dog obituary... it boils over the glorification of worthless humans. I'm not trolling, so I won't pick one as example, but there are plenty of popular/famous/powerful/rich people who are less worthy of note in their passing than one good-natured dog. There are plenty of people who are more vicious, and would make far less amiable company if met in the lobby of a hotel.
posted by dissent at 3:43 PM on May 14, 2002

More dogs, fewer blogs.
posted by timeistight at 3:44 PM on May 14, 2002

Amen to Wulfgar! and dissent. My dog passed about six months ago, so I know how hard it can be. You have someone in your life for 15 or so years, (longer than most friendships and marriages, nowadays) if you're lucky, and then they're gone. It really is the same as losing a humanoid loved-one. The people I really feel sorry for are those that knew this dog well, and worked with her. It's gotta suck for them.
posted by Ufez Jones at 4:16 PM on May 14, 2002

by decre, the new kitten in the Germanicus home is named...Claude Baxter
we've had to sedate the dog though:(
posted by clavdivs at 5:26 PM on May 14, 2002

Dead puppies...aren't very much fun...
posted by Su at 6:09 PM on May 14, 2002

fuckin' humanocentric cynical specieists! Its just a really cool dog for cryin' out loud!

"You're on the right track," sed fold_and_mutilate.

s/dog/cow/
s/cow/deer/
s/deer/pig/
s/pig/chicken/
s/chicken/navy seal/
s/navy seal/terrorist/
s/terrorist/israeli/
s/israeli/palestinian/
s/palestinian/moslem/
s/moslem/hindu/
s/hindu/cow/
s/cow/dog

posted by fold_and_mutilate at 6:29 PM on May 14, 2002

Anybody think it's even slightly possible that the people who read the WaPo's Reliable Source column daily might also be the sort of people who regularly ate or stayed at the Inn and "knew" the dog? Bueller? Bueller?

It's not like this ran in the Des Moines Register.
posted by dhartung at 11:25 PM on May 14, 2002

Here is an obituary of a dentist who collected light bulbs. He owned 60,000 of them.

Every being is worth noticing. Too bad so many go out before anyone notices.
posted by pracowity at 11:56 PM on May 14, 2002

I saw a dead dog at the side of the road last weekend.
posted by mischief at 4:20 AM on May 15, 2002

Anyone remember that Onion article, Ant Born? I can't seem to find it.
posted by SilentSalamander at 8:20 AM on May 15, 2002