Dear Dog Lady,
A guy I met on Tinder suggested we meet for the first time at a dog park where he brings his dog every weekend. He gave me good directions and I went there one Saturday afternoon. To be honest, dogs scare me but I figured any man who liked animals was probably a good guy.
The man was awesome looking, the dog not so much. I don't even know what kind of dog but the beast wore a thick chain collar, which looked very scary and hurtful to me. The dog seemed nice enough but the guy yelled at the poor thing when it was doing nothing but sniffing around. I don't even like dogs all that much but I felt sorry for this dog. Between the collar and the yelling, I decided I had enough so I left. I keep thinking about the guy. I might have been interested but I couldn't stand the way he treated his pet. Do other women judge potential boyfriends this way?
—Gloria

Dear Gloria,
Of course. The way someone treats animals is a surefire indicator of how he or she will respond to members of the human race. You keyed into the clues. The punitive metal collar on his dog and his screaming at the dog indicate some human folly. Dog Lady is a big fan of dating; but you made the right decision to let this one go.

Dear Dog Lady,
When we were together as a couple, my ex-boyfriend Tim seemed to love my dog too. I got Sasha, a lean hound mix from a shelter when she was a puppy. He would take her running along Charles River. The dog loved it and so did Tim. I thought Tim and I were going to get married but he met someone else where he works. I was devastated when we had a very troubling breakup. It's taken me a long while to get over it.
Because Tom wasn't taking her running anymore, Sasha was jittery, chewy, barky, and needy. I finally gathered my courage and called Tim and asked him to keep taking her out with him. He was happy to do it. They now run together four times a week. He keeps the key to my house and comes to get her whenever he wants. What do you think of this arrangement?
—Ellen

Dear Ellen,
From Sasha's point of view, this convenient arrangement with your ex-boyfriend is obviously a sweet deal. From the human point of view, it's dicey. How will you feel if your ex starts to include his new woman in the mix? Let's say he doesn't tell you and you find out because you're home one day when he comes to take Sasha out running and there's somebody with him. Will you feel hurt? Do you want to take the risk of having your heart bruised again? And again? You have much at stake emotionally with this arrangement.
Dog Lady advises you to hire a dog runner to take Sasha out for hearty exercise

Write: askdoglady@gmail.com