Missed the Memo...Again

Suddenly, at least it seems suddenly, the Upper West Side and our area here in Morningside Heights are awash in dogs who are leashed with a harness-like apparatus across their chests, rather than, as has served now for generations, around the neck. Proving either that it is impossible to be too trendy on the UWS or that -- as my daughter explained to me -- some vets claim a dog's neck gets strained with a neck leash. Six months ago, it seemed that neck leashes were fine, but with the coming of spring and the daffodils and crocuses of March, so too did the body leash explode into sight. It's as if all dog owners got a memo advocating the new way of walking. Today I actually developed a bit of sympathy for the new when my poor little doggie was feeling under the weather and wanted to stop at every patch of sidewalk where grass was pushing up through the cracks and to nibble on the grass. I lost patience after a while and gave him a series of yank/tugs to move him along. At that point I just thought he was a canine malingerer but when he left his food untouched once we got back home, I realized. So, Sam, if I strained your neck a little bit, I'm sorry, but no, you are not getting a doggie harness. It's one unreceived memo I am mentally tearing up.