SGVN

Must Love Dogs

Aug. 2, 2005

By Kyra Kirkwood

"Must Love Dogs." It's more than just the name of the latest Diane Lane/John Cusack romantic comedy. It's a way of life.

My dogs and I are a package deal. There's dog hair all over my floor 37 seconds after I vacuum. Barking is as predictable as the minutes ticking off the clock. Giant fuzzy squeaker toys serve as couch pillows. That's my lifeãthe life I loveãand those who take part in it must embrace the whole package.

Thankfully, my husband is as big of a dog freak as am I. We can spend weekends at pet expos and dog parks, contented dinners set to the tune of rawhide crunching. We're in sync with what's important to us: our fur family.

Dogs bring something to our lives, something intangible, yet as vital as breath. Other "dog people" know exactly what I'm talking about; perhaps that's why we form a kinship, a bond between others like ourselves. And where else to do so but at a dog park? (Or a Hollywood press junket for a romantic comedy?)

In "Must Love Dogs," two divorced thirtysomethings just entering the dating world again find comfort meeting their Internet "dates" at a dog park, along with a pair of four-legged chaperones.

Of course, the fun didn't cease once the cameras stopped rolling. With a bunch of dogs and dog lovers on the set, how could it? Lane and Cusack share the stage with a spunky White West Highland White Terrier and a pair of giant black Newfoundland sisters named Molly and Maeve. Lane became a converted dog lover and eventual dog mom (fight on, Diane! Welcome to the pack), and the writer/director, Gary David Goldberg of "Family Ties" fame, shamelessly admits he likes dogs better than people. (Who can blame him? Not me.) His Vermont household is run by a brood of five canines, including the dynamic duo Molly and Maeve, who became his babies after the film.

"We spend no times with humans, It's my wife, myself and the dogs," he said. (Some days, I dream of doing that.) He even traveledãhitchhiked!ãall over Europe with his wife and Lab mix Ubu. (Remember him at the end of "Family Ties?" "Sit, Ubu, sit. Good dog!")

Co-star Elizabeth Perkins also travels with her beloved pups, and even rescues dogs from the Los Angeles shelter system. She's a huge advocate of adoption, too. (Did I mention I want to be her new best friend?) And Dermot Mulroney, who plays the "incorrigible" Bob, lives and breathes dog.

"I can't imagine living without one," he said, his eyes darkening as he talked about the recent death of his beloved Pit/Shepherd mix Trooper, 11. "My family always had dogs."

You get celebrities talking about their passionãin this case, dogsãand they're just like us. They clean up poop from their carpet and squeaker toys from under the bed. They take their dogs to the vet and campaign for spay/neuter education because they feel a kinship with these creatures. Like all of us dog fanatics do.

Why?

Because dogs are the universe's gift to us, to help us through the days where all seems insane, when the world looks as if it's being conducted by someone high on crystal meth. Dogs are the link to our childhood, our best selves, our compassion. If only I could always be the woman my dogs see me as being! It's such an ego check and boost all wrapped into one whenever I walk through the door and my dogs greet me as if I'm Elvis. A few extra pounds, a stress-induced pimple, a late paycheck, a mildewy shower curtainãnone of this matters to my pack. All they care about is me, scratching behind their velvety ears as we watch TV.

Dogs teach us to slow down, to enjoy life instead of just living it. They forgive instantly instead of holding grudges that eat away our souls like cancer, blinding us to the moment. They take innocent pleasure in all things, from that nasty old bone they've seen a hundred times to the new pup at the park. They teach us to see the world like that.

Mulroney obviously thinks this way, and of all breeds. He's had every kind, from Bloodhounds to Pits and everything in between. Spoken like a true dog lover, it's the deed not the breed that needs to be punished.

"These dogs are so smart," he said of Pits. "[They] obviously get a bad rap, and some are bad. But we all know it's not the animals' fault. You chain [a dog] up on concrete all day and he'd be a different dog."

More surprisingly, most of the stars of "Must Love Dogs" rescued some sort of mixed-breed, putting action behind their words. Lane adopted a small mutt, and Perkins is intent on saving another innocent soul from needless euthanasia.

"I'd like to shut down all pet stores and puppy factories myself." she said, voicing how appalled she is regarding society's "disposable" attitude regarding pets. "'Found a better apartment and wouldn't take dog'ä'Peed on my rug'ä.'Growled at the mailman.' These things are fixable! It's not that hard."

How people can so easily give up on a dog, and then turn around and get another is appalling. Dog ownership takes work, just like any worthwhile relationship. Many, many dogs at local shelters are just byproducts of lazy people wanting a "quickie divorce."

"You see so many, so sweet, and you know they're going to be put down," Perkins said. "It's depressing."

If I wasn't surrounded by a handful of non-dog-loving reporters at this event, I would have popped open a can of Red Bull and chatted for hours with Perkins about the horrors of the shelter system and the need for spay and neuter education. But instead, someone wanted to ask her about how she felt working with Demi Moore in "About Last Night." (Was there a dog in that film? Aside from the Rob Lowe character, that is.)

I, too, rescued both of my dogs from local shelters. I gave them a second chance, and they changed my life. I simply wouldn't be the same person I am today if it weren't for them. Their depth, gratitude, intelligence and uniqueness constantly amaze me. Both were abused, and yet neither harbors a single foul word (or bark) to humankind. (Unlike usãI'm still ticked off by a rude comment hurled my way in the sixth grade.)

And all dogs ask for in return is shelter, food and love. Everything else, from your hair color to weight to socioeconomic status, means nothing to these fur-covered teachers. So while people commend me for rescuing Annie and Owen, I can honestly say that it's the other way around: they rescued me.

And that's why I must love dogs.