UTT DOG SIGHTED IN RESTAURANT

When I was still living in my parents' home, we always referred to one of our three poodles, Tuita (Tail Up In The Air), as our UTT Dog, an acronym for "Under The Table Dog."  That's because Tuita could always be found under our dinner table at suppertime waiting for scraps to find their way to the floor, as they most often did from my dad's plate and my little brother's.  You could have called Dad the Lord of the Rings because there was always a ring of food debris around his plate after he finished his meal.  

Last Friday, when we went out for dinner to a popular restaurant in East Sac, I noticed a woman come inside with her miniature poodle and sit at a table.  She might have sat in the outdoor heated area where most people take their dogs even on rainy nights like this one, but not this time.  The poodle was small and black like Tuita was and very well behaved.  It didn't appear to be a service dog but just someone's beloved companion whose owner didn't want to leave shivering outside in the cold or shut up in a car while she ate.  She was discreet about it.  So was the dog.  It never uttered a sound, and I expect no one but I made any note of its presence among the diners.  The dog stayed quietly under the table while the woman ate her meal, and no one ejected her and her polite little dog from the establishment.  

Score another point for tenacious pet lovers and their faithful UTT dogs.  I hope the trend continues and that no one ruins it for everyone by bringing a bad-mannered or unsocialized dog indoors.