It's A Dog's World

 It's A Dog World

          Hello there, Man’s Best Friend currently speaking, but you can call me Oscar. I have short, dark chocolate colored fur and big, brown eyes that I am not above using; the puppy dog look works every time. Anyway, I like bouncy balls, squirrels, and having a good tail waggle with my friends, but above all, I like Kansas City. It’s home.

             Kansas City is like a fresh bone to chew on or getting a treat every single day. It’s the perfect place for dogs like me that just want to have fun. The parks around here are huge and have so many things to do that I often don’t know what to do first! There is bright green grass, tens of hundreds of types of trees to sniff out, and I may have thrown an acorn at a squirrel, but I’ll never admit it.
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         The best part, and I’m going to whisper this because classy dogs such as myself don’t like to admit it, is the number of different places to pee on. I mean, come on! Have you ever taken a moment to look at how many statues there are around this city? So far, I’ve only gotten around to about half, but I’ve already gotten up close and personal with Indians, birdies (the kind used in Badminton; the real ones won’t let me get close), a guy fishing, a couple of angels, and a horse named Fred. After a bit of a rocky introduction- if you get what I mean- we’ve become fast friends.
         
          Another plus side to the Show Me State is that it knows how to show me the food! The eats around here are fantastic. Most of the shopping areas are open and outside allowing me free reign, and stores often have doggie water bowls and treats out for when I get hungry. If you want the good stuff, though, you just have to hang around a barbecue restaurant. There are tons of them around, and the scraps are amazing! Trust me; you haven’t lived until a pulled pork sandwich with spicy barbecue sauce has landed in front of you.

     ​   I am a well-rounded dog, though. Don’t think for a moment that my entire life consists of food and peeing on unsuspecting statues… okay, so most of it does. But I’m also a traveler! That’s right; I enter new states on a daily basis. How many other dogs can say that? The state line between Missouri and Kansas is often so close that it divides two sides of a street and being the daredevil I am, I sometimes stand with two paws in each. I know, how crazy is that? I may have to get myself a passport one of these days. Watch out world because this dog is about to take over!

        ​For when I’m feeling fancy, though, there’s still a lot to do. Our entertainment will blow your socks off… er, leash off? My personal favorite is going downtown to listen to jazz music, but if anyone can get me into the symphony or ballet, let me know! I tried standing on a couple of my friends shoulders with an overcoat on, but we had a bit of an issue with the check in. No matter, it’s incredible, and I do a mean jazz dance every once and a while. The best part about downtown is the deep contrast it provides. I can spend my days running through parks and rolling hills and then head to the Power and Light district for social hour. It’s a complete change of scenery, and the best part is, I can pick which one I want depending on my mood. The one constant, though, is the moon. The skies here in Kansas City are dark and clear, and the stars and moon are easy to pick out. I’d consider myself a bit of a stargazer, but the moon will always be my favorite. Come on, what dog do you know that doesn’t want to bark at the moon every once and a while? (If they say they don’t, they’re lying. Promise.)

      ​Kansas City is lots of things for both the humans and dogs such as me. It is food, architecture, opportunity, and entertainment, but above all, it is home. There is no other

place that I’d rather be in this doggy dog world, and I can only hope that you get to experience it one day.

This is Oscar, signing off. Woof.

P.S. If you have any pesky squirrels you need to get rid of, call me.

This Blog Was Written by Park Hill South High School Student Lauren Fricke.

Thanks for the help Lauren and you're an amazing writer!