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My first girlfriend was a dog.

And I called her "Pal."

I'm not being mean.

She really was a dog, a furry, brown and black terrier.

It was many decades ago, when this little dog followed me home from school. She never left. Still lives in my heart, in fact.

I figured I'd come clean right away with my dog bias because if you hate cute, lovable, wonderful, caring canines, this column may be not for you. (Try playing fetch with your cat instead.)

Imagine: 100 dogs gathered in the outdoors, all on their best behavior, hardly a yip and certainly not a nip. That was the scene I discovered this weekend during a random run in O'Neill Regional Park at the foot of Saddleback Mountain.

Dozens of cars, cages and tents were gathered under the oaks for a two-day show put on by the International All Breed Canine Association, an organization similar to the better known American Kennel Club.

I wandered over and immediately was befriended by Bobbie Libman of San Juan Capistrano. She was patient enough to explain the IABCA and the AKC, which puts on the fancy Westminster dog shows in Madison Square Garden.

The differences boil down to two things: one is international, one isn't (you can figure which is which by their names); also, AKC compares dog vs. dog while IABCA evaluates each dog on the standards of that particular breed.

But enough of the technical stuff. I wanted to check out the beautiful animals, learn a little about an activity I'd never realized often has its competitions in the great outdoors, and find out what turns dog lovers into competitive dog lovers.

"I guess you could call it the pride," Libman answered while discussing why go through all the bother of competition, travel, training, grooming and paying fees. Showing and even breeding dogs isn't about money, she assured me during a later phone conversation.

"There's nothing like the devotion and the constant appreciation that you get from a dog," Libman explained. "There also is the unconditional, undying love and affection that you get from a dog."

Libman grew up without dogs. Her mom's decision. When she was on her own, her first dog loves were Great Danes. But the pain of big dogs' relatively short lives proved too much.

So, Libman turned to smaller dogs, which live longer. It was love at first sight when she saw her first Chinese Shar-Pei. Twenty years later, she still loves the breed.

"They're adorable."

The judges in O'Neill didn't disagree, awarding Libman's dog, Mikobi's Little Brick Schmidt House, 16 medals, including three best of show.

As shiny as the medals are, Libman's love of her dog is brighter.

"They're pure of heart and soul. They're great company. They're fun to watch," said Libman. Perhaps concerned about how her two daughters might feel if they see this column, Libman also was quick to note, "Obviously, you can't compare them to people because they're not people."

My wife, Sue, might disagree. She calls Ziggy, our son's and daughter's Schnauzer, "My baby."

Turns out, Libman and Sue feel the same way about dogs:

"They're fur people," Libman laughs.

I'll have to ask Ziggy.

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I went you-know-where today and yes, I brought my camera! 

Nothing earth-shattering but caught my eye.

She is the cheeriest checker in Albertsons

When I pulled my camera out and said "Smile!!", she thought I was kidding!  Another checker told her that when Bob has his camera with him, he is serious!!  HAH!!  She is a sweetie!!

On to the parking lot!!  I spotted this REALLY yellow truck and noticed a cute little Chihuahua in the front seat. 

What I didn't notice was the Mexican woman in the driver's seat!!  Oops!!

She spoke little English so I tried to explain to her that have a blog, but she wasn't buying it! "Why you take picture of my dog!!".  When I got back in my car, her husband walked up and in an angry voice said, "WHY ARE YOU TAKING A PICTURE OF OUR DOG!!!!!!!!"  Uh oh...   So I smiled and said, "I have a blog and thought your dog was cute!".  He just said "Oh!  OK!", and walked back to his car.  Whew!!!

Then I saw this! 

What the heck is a school bus doing pulling into the Albertsons parking lot........ in August!!  School is OUT!!  Does this woman use the bus as her personal vehicle during the summer??  And it's not even a 'short bus'!!

And finally...... These guys have been working on this sewer line for 4 days!

Something broke (cable, hose??), so this is them standing around scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do or who is gonna have to crawl down there!  Probably not the guy sitting down.  He looks like the boss!   Our City workers work sooooo hard!!  LOL!

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Continuing on with 'Female Country Artist Week', here is an absolutely beautiful song by Pam Tillis!!  I KNOW you will like it!!  Remember Mel Tillis??  The guy who stuttered but sang so well?  His daughter!

BTW?  Loved all of your comments to yesterday's post!!

PS:  My gardeners were working across the street today ( why they don't do all four yards on the same day?  I have no idea!). But I brought them water anyway!   Effron asked me why I was hand watering and I told him just for a little extra water on some of the iffy spots!!  Told him my sprinklers run every other day for 20 minutes and he said "Good!". Then I pointed out a leak in one of them (that HE caused!) and he said he would fix it on Saturday!!!  YAY!!  They are just TOO good!!!