I remember when I was a child, I gave our dog Bruno something from my hand and his mouth touched my fingers. I turned my back from him and was about to pick up a ball when my father stopped me. He told me to go and wash my hands because the saliva from Bruno can make me sick.

“He did not bite me,” I said.

My father told me that he knew he did not bite me, but the bacteria from his saliva is harmful. Dogs mouths have germs so do not touch his mouth. From that day I did not touch his mouth. When I came to this country I was flawed to see how dogs are in human faces. Dogs liking hands and face is the norm in this country. I like dogs and the one thing I like to do with them is to look into their eyes. A staring match between a dog and I to see who blinks first is fun, although I always lose.