Dogs aren’t usually involved in politics unless they happen to live with one of the presidents in the White House, but I got pulled into the midterm election anyway.
As all of you humans know, the ads for the candidates running for office started months in advance. Even I noticed them on TV because I had been missing the commercials for yummy dog food and treats that I hoped Doc would buy for me when she saw them.
I really don’t understand the process of how all of you pick a pack leader, but I guess one of the ways voters are reached besides the commercials is text messages on the phone and that is where this story begins.
The texts started arriving on Doc’s phone about one month ago and at first, they had Doc’s name on them and said, “Don’t forget to vote early by mail or in person during the hours of 8am-4pm. Then about two weeks ago, they stopped coming to Doc and started coming to me. The first one said “Walter, public records show you did not vote in 2025. Make sure you plan to vote on 11/3. Duh, I was only three and a half months old for last year’s election, too young to register to vote. Doc just laughed until they started coming 3-4 per day, all to me. “Don’t they know you’re a dog?” She said to me. Each one sounded more frantic and asked me to endorse candidates. One even came from Buckeye legend and two-times Heisman trophy winner Archie Griffin reminding me to get out and vote on Nov.3rd.
Every day Doc would read the texts sent to me and then swiped left to delete and report spam, yet they still came to her in-box. The last one, “Walter, Election Day is tomorrow, the race is going to be close and we need your vote!” “Good grief,” said Doc It concerns me that they don’t even know that you are a dog.” I was starting to think that I should just go to the polls on Tuesday to vote, but I was worried how I would be able to swipe the screen for the candidate I wanted using my paw.
Personally, I like the way dogs pick pack leaders. In the wild we look for physical strength, confidence, and the dog that is assertive enough to set the rules and make decisions for the pack. The pack leader maintains order, reduces conflict and this ensures the packs survival. They often use staring contests and growling. If humans did that to elect their leaders, that would be a political debate I would watch.
By the time you read this, hopefully the commercials, texts and ads will be over and I can go back to watching dog food commercials.