the synaesthetic puppy

the other day my wife and I met my brother at the Fiesta Village strip mall to get some sandwiches. we were so hungry. after sandwiches, the three of us also went to the dollar store and the pet shop. there are no strip malls in my own neighborhood so we kind of spoiled ourselves.

each window of the pet store had grease-paint murals of different pets, most of which were represented inside by the real thing. tankfulls of amphibians and reptiles. big heavy birds pacing side to side on crosswise perches. and puppies.

the puppies were also in tanks, very large aquariums, except these didn’t have water. they just had puppies and shredded newspapers. there were all kinds of puppies really, but I was most taken by this one bloodhound puppy that was lapping water from a bowl in the corner. I reached down and pet him and he totally didn’t care. I was probably like the 26th person to pet him that day and he looked really thirsty. impassive.

the cool thing was how his loooong hound dog ears were dangling well past his nose and sopping around in the water dish as he was lapping with his tongue. lapping at water, wet newspaper and his own soggy ears. how might this all taste, smell, feel and sound to a creature of such celebrated keen senses? (and such a young pup, entering the prime of being.) this, by the way, is not synaesthesia. but we’re getting warmer.

here we are, this is synaesthesia. absolutely textbook. and this webcam is your new best friend. you get it, right? “camera is hidden in dog’s nose!”

in this instance the beady eyes are only a façade to the real organ of perception.
3 varieties available:
golden retriever webcam
beagle webcam
USB webcam set: hardware package without the stuffed animal

these are not in the dollar store but in skymall for $30.