Oscar

Oscar, a miniature poodle, is an important part of my life. He is also building a fan club of my guests, so that almost all emails from friends and artists who have been guests at Casa Uno Artist Residency include a greeting to Oscar!  He is also the first dog that I have had as an adult.

When I was growing up, we always had a dog in the house.  My mom loved dogs and said dogs followed her home from school when she was a child.  I didn’t take much interest in the pets we had in the house except when they had puppies, and then it was fun to watch the little Dalmatians grow or the strange mix that a German shepherd and a large French poodle produced.

Cats, and especially a black cat we called Midnight, were a part of my children’s life growing up.  My husband and I were cat people, although sometimes I thought it might be fun to have a dog.  When I made that suggestion to my husband, I got a look from him that clearly said that wasn’t going to happen.

Things changed after my husband passed and I had a robbery in the house where I live in Costa Rica.  While the two young robbers didn’t get much, it was enough for me to decide we needed to take steps to make the house more secure.  I did, making sure the alarm system worked and that the property was completely fenced in with grill work on vulnerable windows.  I also thought it would be a good idea to get a dog.  At first, I was looking at a German shepherd, knowing that they are good watch dogs, but then I got realistic, also knowing that a large dog would be too much for me to handle.  While a rescue dog was appealing, I was concerned, as a new dog owner, that I didn’t want to handle problems that a rescue dog might bring.  Since some family members were allergic to some breeds of dogs, and as I was anticipating guests, I wanted a dog that would not be a problem for people with allergies.

Next came the fun of naming him.  Since he would be a part of the Artist Residencies I was planning I wanted to give him a name that had an artsy ring to it.  I first wanted to call him Shakespeare, but I immediately got a resounding “no” from my house manager Manrique, who firmly said, “He is a Costa Rican dog.  He needs a Costa Rican name.”

I asked for suggestions of famous Costa Ricans, particularly if they were in the arts.

After a short pause Manrique suggested the name Oscar for Oscar Arias Sanchez, who served two terms as President and was also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.  That worked for me since it immediately also reminded me of Oscars in the world of arts, such as Oscar Wilde and Oscar Hammerstein. So now I had a name for my new puppy.

Oscar has been with me for over three years now and is an important part of life here.  It has been fun to watch how he adapts to all the different guests.  When he hears a car coming up the driveway, he immediately rushes to the door to see who’s here.  I find it interesting that when he recognizes someone he doesn’t bark, but if he is unsure, he will bark, letting me know that it may be someone we are not familiar with.  Once someone is acknowledged by me as a friend, Oscar is the first to warmly welcome them, and he needs to be acknowledged before I can greet the person.  He will often curl up beside someone, expecting to be gently petted.  Since his fur is so soft and silky, he gets lots of petting.  Sometimes he will sit beside someone and lift his paw, meaning, “please scratch my belly.”

As a choreographer who doesn’t have any dancers to work with, I have had lots of fun teaching Oscar some moves.  Here is a video of Oscar and me going through his regular routine.

Slowly I add new tricks to Oscar’s repertory.  I used to wonder how people could become so attached to their dogs.  Now I know!

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