2020/01/27 - Rub A Dub Dub

[Cesco]

Oooh! You made an awkward moment for you even more awkward, King... But at least, Sasha is now happy, with or without boundaries... Eheh, I imagine a tiny angel version (for black text thoughts) and a tiny devil version (for gray ones) of King speaking to him. I see, scrub Sasha's back should be a pleasure also for you, King, but if you weren't married...

[HundKatzeMaus]

Yeah, the whole "crush" thing is a little weird, but maybe it's because it wasn't so much emphasized and we mostly saw King interacting with Bailey instead of any other female dogs? It is a little confusing.

I'm just wondering why a bath of all the things does give her pleasent memories. Maybe she really likes to be groomed.
It reminds me in one strip she was participating in a dog show and maybe it's because she is treated like a star, someone important?
Maybe her owner once did a nice thing to her by giving her a bath or several?
Maybe it's just me, but I think this could reveal something interesting.
Or she just likes getting pampered once in a while

Your mentioning of the dog show just brought to mind a theory I have: Could she at one point been a famous star or, at the very least, the daughter of one, hence her attitude and how the male dog population seems to go crazy for her? We know she was adopted so that's what brought that theory to mind.

Well at one point Sasha was the star of a commercial for dog food.
I think what is also important is her owner wanted to use her to attract some single ladies, I could imagine he adopted a dog who looked as cute as possible and took good enough care of her so that she doesn't look dirty and in bad shape (at least he has to pretend to be a nice guy). Maybe before the partys where he showed up with Sasha he gave her nice baths so she looks like he takes care of her?

I don't know exactly what you mean with attitude, do you mean like the comic strip where she went so close to King and kinda teased him? Or do you mean her overall ditzy personality?

I always thought the reasons why so many male dogs fall for her are:
-For their standards she is just a beauty
-While she maybe a ditz, she is also a very decent person. Aside from being annoyed we never saw her really being angry with someone else. She also never talks down to others. So yeah good looking and a decent person.
-There aren't many other female dogs.

[dr_eirik]

I always thought the reasons why so many male dogs fall for her are:
-For their standards she is just a beauty
-While she maybe a ditz, she is also a very decent person. Aside from being annoyed we never saw her really being angry with someone else. She also never talks down to others. So yeah good looking and a decent person.
-There aren't many other female dogs.

The first two I definitely agree on. I think you could add that she's "approachable". She's easy to strike up a conversation with. The conversation may not be deep, but you could make small talk with her.

The last point.. that's harder to say because there have been a lot of dogs in crowd scenes that we've got no information in. It does feel like the only female dogs are Sasha, Bailey and Tarot sometimes. I'm sure there are others.

[HundKatzeMaus]

I always thought the reasons why so many male dogs fall for her are:
-For their standards she is just a beauty
-While she maybe a ditz, she is also a very decent person. Aside from being annoyed we never saw her really being angry with someone else. She also never talks down to others. So yeah good looking and a decent person.
-There aren't many other female dogs.

The first two I definitely agree on. I think you could add that she's "approachable". She's easy to strike up a conversation with. The conversation may not be deep, but you could make small talk with her.

The last point.. that's harder to say because there have been a lot of dogs in crowd scenes that we've got no information in. It does feel like the only female dogs are Sasha, Bailey and Tarot sometimes. I'm sure there are others.

You forgot Daisy and Duchess.
But yeah Sasha is still the most approachable one:
-Bailey wasn't long in the neighbourhood and got engaged to King very early. I can imagine a lot of dogs respected that.
-Tarot is probably just plain weird for the others, especielly back when she had still all of her mythical powers.
-Daisy probably never had a conversation with someone aside from "Hi, I'm Daisy." We know she has issues, same why she always smiles, but I think that is kinda unnerving for a lot of dogs.
-Duchess is...Duchess...

Hold on I just remembered there is at least one female K9 member and one member of the dog club did brag about having several girlfriends (although I think he was really just bragging) so yeah...you're right about that

[GameCobra]

Yeah, the whole "crush" thing is a little weird, but maybe it's because it wasn't so much emphasized and we mostly saw King interacting with Bailey instead of any other female dogs? It is a little confusing.

I'm just wondering why a bath of all the things does give her pleasent memories. Maybe she really likes to be groomed.
It reminds me in one strip she was participating in a dog show and maybe it's because she is treated like a star, someone important?
Maybe her owner once did a nice thing to her by giving her a bath or several?
Maybe it's just me, but I think this could reveal something interesting.
Or she just likes getting pampered once in a while

Your mentioning of the dog show just brought to mind a theory I have: Could she at one point been a famous star or, at the very least, the daughter of one, hence her attitude and how the male dog population seems to go crazy for her? We know she was adopted so that's what brought that theory to mind.

Well at one point Sasha was the star of a commercial for dog food.
I think what is also important is her owner wanted to use her to attract some single ladies, I could imagine he adopted a dog who looked as cute as possible and took good enough care of her so that she doesn't look dirty and in bad shape (at least he has to pretend to be a nice guy). Maybe before the partys where he showed up with Sasha he gave her nice baths so she looks like he takes care of her?

I don't know exactly what you mean with attitude, do you mean like the comic strip where she went so close to King and kinda teased him? Or do you mean her overall ditzy personality?

I always thought the reasons why so many male dogs fall for her are:
-For their standards she is just a beauty
-While she maybe a ditz, she is also a very decent person. Aside from being annoyed we never saw her really being angry with someone else. She also never talks down to others. So yeah good looking and a decent person.
-There aren't many other female dogs.

Compared to her when she first showed up, i figured she was just a mutt who grew up with Bino and was lucky. These days it's clear she was always considered attractive, going by what Kevin and her do. x3

Dogs like swimming, but bathing is a tricky scenario. Some dogs just like being washed or groomed on an occassion. My husky for example loves jumping into beach waters and ponds, but hates baths. Though i have seen quite a bit of dogs that enjoy a bath - probably the same way Sasha does :3

[fenrirblack]

You want some deep symbolism. The doghouse represents Sasha and King's relationship because Sasha in her own way was King's shelter after he was first transformed and God knows how long it had been since he had a real home before moving into the Wolf House. Think about it for a second, his parents kicked him out, he was in jail twice, and living with Pete sure wasn't a home.

[GameCobra]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic, but I don't check for symbolism when watching movies or reading comics. It's a nice nod from time to time to show us that the author gets it and just had to add it into his story, but I'm not exactly waiting to see Keene and the ferrets do another last supper reference =P

[Amazee Dayzee]

So then we established that King doesn’t have any boundaries and while he thinks this is wrong and it may very well not be not be wrong he has no impulse control so he’s doing it and even if Bailey absolves him of his guilt he is still probably gonna feel bad about it.

[NHWestoN]

Ok, now I really want Fox to show up!

Or the puppies - nothing squashes romantic stirrings like a wheedling toddler interruption!

Yep! Though in their case, they'd probably jump in the tub as well!

THAT would be seriously fun!!

[Foxfan2164]

I'm literally waiting for Fox to show up so I can make his scarred face my new avatar.

Yep

[dr_eirik]

So then we established that King doesn’t have any boundaries and while he thinks this is wrong and it may very well not be not be wrong he has no impulse control so he’s doing it and even if Bailey absolves him of his guilt he is still probably gonna feel bad about it.

I wouldn't say he doesn't have boundaries, what he seems to lack is willpower. If this had been Tarot or Daisy, I suspect he'd have found a way to cheer them up without a romp in the tub.

I'm literally waiting for Fox to show up so I can make his scarred face my new avatar.

Yep

I understand the sentiment, but I'm hopeful he's back to normal. Poor guy gets a lot dumped on him. Unless the appearance of the patch makes Sasha swoon.

[fenrirblack]

So then we established that King doesn’t have any boundaries and while he thinks this is wrong and it may very well not be not be wrong he has no impulse control so he’s doing it and even if Bailey absolves him of his guilt he is still probably gonna feel bad about it.

I wouldn't say he doesn't have boundaries, what he seems to lack is willpower. If this had been Tarot or Daisy, I suspect he'd have found a way to cheer them up without a romp in the tub.

Well he did ask what she wanted and well this was it. Honestly it’s not (entirely) King’s fault that he’s washing her back. Wouldn’t it have been more rude to refuse her request? If I had to guess it’s more he was so out of sorts that he couldn’t think of an alternative so he went into auto mode and said yes to the first request she gave him.

[trekkie]

One thing we know about King is that he is a worrier. Sometimes he worries himself into a tizzy about things that are no big deal. I think Bailey will be pretty accepting of him taking care of Sasha, or will understand once King explains things. I just hope he doesn’t panic, and try and lie or something.

[ZAR22]

I personally think the thought process is a little bit suspicious, given one text is written in a way king wouldn't normally talk, and the fact the text itself is in a different font color, something not generally seen, especially with king in the past, with the exception of possession of pets by demi gods, and when the demi gods themselves speak. And if I recall, didn't a certain someone, bring a certain some-demonic-thing back with them from a temple crashers episode?

And even if it does turn out to be just king, it does feel a little bit out of left field, and while people may say things true while drunk, that isn't always the case, and given the fact PRIOR to bailey, as fenrir stated, king during his drunken state hit on ALL the female girl dogs at a party, I wouldn't count the drunken seen as really big evidence. In all the kings men, when he was referring to sasha as a certain female dog he liked, let's also remember he referenced fox as liking him to, but said it would be weird, and given the fact he seems to have control over his state and relationship with fox, and shows control over himself when around fox, I feel like their is some unseen force influencing him.

I think I recall someone saying pete said he couldn't obtain her because of some supernatural force was protecting her. This force could also be trying to influence other dogs in sasha's favor to help her out, due to the fact she had to put up with her "daddy's" neglect.

As for the valentine's day thing, I have been in places, especially some schools, where people were made to give valentine's gifts to ALL (both sexes and peeps) the kids there of their grade and home classroom, and plus, a few high schools have it were some close female friends of other female friends give gifts to each other out of friendship, and some male friends have this done to them by (usually as a prank, not saying this is the case with king and sasha) other males, or a female to male (and vice-versa) and not really mean anything.

Then again we don't know the circumstances in which have the gift. Seeing as he had to find a way to get all the stuff for the house, let alone FIND the house (which knowing king I don't think he went around the neighborhood looking for a thrown out house on Valetines day, and would get ALL the stuff for it with in enough time to give it to her near her house, connected to the house in someway, all before bino could give his gift, which seeing the of the possible position of the sun, looks between early daylight to midafternoon), I would venture to say it was coincidental timing to give the gift he probably was going to give her either way even if it wasn't valentine's day, and just gave it to her early morning, with enough time for bino to give his gift when it was really bright out in the sky was blue. And seeing as February is generally in winter, and daylight hours are shorter (in the more temperate zones (atleast in the USA from what I have seen) tend to have dark to sunset set in around 4:30-5:30, and seeing as 12:00 noon is only a few hours before 4, and she played the piano with bino for atleast seemingly awhile before the staple eyes and ears thing, it still seemed to show blue sky light leaking in from my perception of things, or could be light bouncing kf the snow that tricks me).

So I am NOT dismissing it from being a crush, but given the events of the pass, I don't think this is how king would normally act, especially since he went through all that trouble to be with bailey.

[Dogglar]

My advice to King, a quote,

"DO NOT DO IT!
DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING IT!
DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT NOT DOING!"

~ The Soldier, 2007(ish)

[NHWestoN]

Yeah, the whole "crush" thing is a little weird, but maybe it's because it wasn't so much emphasized and we mostly saw King interacting with Bailey instead of any other female dogs? It is a little confusing.

I'm just wondering why a bath of all the things does give her pleasent memories. Maybe she really likes to be groomed.
It reminds me in one strip she was participating in a dog show and maybe it's because she is treated like a star, someone important?
Maybe her owner once did a nice thing to her by giving her a bath or several?
Maybe it's just me, but I think this could reveal something interesting.
Or she just likes getting pampered once in a while

yeah, there was a short dog show episode involving Sasha, but she was more of supporting player in that vignette. She was involved in a conversation with a very disgruntled Duchess who was miffed about coming in third place. I don't remember if Sasha prized in the show. We also met Colleen and Karo, apparently frenemies of Duchess and obviously of the same Fitzgeraldine social class. They have never been seen since.....

[fenrirblack]

Yeah, the whole "crush" thing is a little weird, but maybe it's because it wasn't so much emphasized and we mostly saw King interacting with Bailey instead of any other female dogs? It is a little confusing.

I'm just wondering why a bath of all the things does give her pleasent memories. Maybe she really likes to be groomed.
It reminds me in one strip she was participating in a dog show and maybe it's because she is treated like a star, someone important?
Maybe her owner once did a nice thing to her by giving her a bath or several?
Maybe it's just me, but I think this could reveal something interesting.
Or she just likes getting pampered once in a while

yeah, there was a short dog show episode involving Sasha, but she was more of supporting player in that vignette. She was involved in a conversation with a very disgruntled Duchess who was miffed about coming in third place. I don't remember if Sasha prized in the show. We also met Colleen and Karo, apparently frenemies of Duchess and obviously of the same Fitzgeraldine social class. They have never been seen since.....

Okay, Sasha was in the Dog Show chapter but had one scene when King was being chased by Duchess and King tried to get her to help. http://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/2012/03/14/nah/
Sasha starred in the dog food commercial being produced by Rock which I think is what everyone is referring too.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/201 ... -activate/

[Amazee Dayzee]

When people are saying that Sasha has experience as an actor and was seen on television, that weird commercial about Kanine Kibble is what everybody is referring to.

[ThisthingfromNowhere]

What are you planning Rick...

[Dissension]

I admit the night together would foster feelings but those feelings should have been more present in the past.

To which prior arc do you feel those emotions would have been most relevant?

The real point is even if all these points do count as past indicators of feelings of attraction towards Sasha they are weak at best and not the best thing to base an entire chapter plot on which is why I suggested having an excuse to have King explain the origin of the feelings so to establish a more solid foundation.

You've at least gone from ignoring evidence to saying it's not evidence you like or consider good enough, which I guess is improvement.

Even if it’s the story Ricks wants to tell, that doesn’t make it a good idea. A good editor would have pointed that out. It’s not about the writer it’s also about the reader.

This is a comic someone writes for fun. If you don't like it, you're not required to read it. If you're here to drag Rick through the mud, you're not here.

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. I was wrong and I'm really sorry. While I often find my admittedly overprotective instinct kicking in while reading your criticism, I understand you're not here to tear anyone down. I hope you'll forgive me.

[GameCobra]

Bailey could walk in at anytime, but if i can make a small guess on what Rick might do, it would be in the realm of possibility that Grape manages to catch Sasha kissing or dragging King's collar - you know, adding another reason Grape wants to stay clear of Sasha =P

[Amazee Dayzee]

I could see Grape being even more annoyed and thinking that King is at it again since the situation is very sensitive that King is starting to flirt with someone else's girlfriend like he did when she caught him flirting with Tarot while he was drunk on orange soda.

I do wanna know something about that now that you brought up it could be Grape that sees them. Did she ever beat the stuffing out of King for hitting on Tarot? =D

[NHWestoN]

I could see Grape being even more annoyed and thinking that King is at it again since the situation is very sensitive that King is starting to flirt with someone else's girlfriend like he did when she caught him flirting with Tarot while he was drunk on orange soda.

I do wanna know something about that now that you brought up it could be Grape that sees them. Did she ever beat the stuffing out of King for hitting on Tarot? =D

Nope, but she put the option on the table, and that got King to move along briskly!

[Welsh Halfwit]

I could see Grape being even more annoyed and thinking that King is at it again since the situation is very sensitive that King is starting to flirt with someone else's girlfriend like he did when she caught him flirting with Tarot while he was drunk on orange soda.

I do wanna know something about that now that you brought up it could be Grape that sees them. Did she ever beat the stuffing out of King for hitting on Tarot? =D

Nope, but she put the option on the table, and that got King to move along briskly!

And then he asked her to puppysit so I think they're getting along better/largely ignoring each other now.

[dr_eirik]

I could see Grape being even more annoyed and thinking that King is at it again since the situation is very sensitive that King is starting to flirt with someone else's girlfriend like he did when she caught him flirting with Tarot while he was drunk on orange soda.

I do wanna know something about that now that you brought up it could be Grape that sees them. Did she ever beat the stuffing out of King for hitting on Tarot? =D

Nope, but she put the option on the table, and that got King to move along briskly!

And then he asked her to puppysit so I think they're getting along better/largely ignoring each other now.

The incident with Tarot was years before and likely a one-off. I don't think that Grape is likely aware of all the things going on with King (Still not clear how widely known his past status as a human is) but I doubt that they have had bad interactions since. Though it wasn't King who asked, but rather Fox. I assume there is a lot of interaction that we have never seen.

[Champion Wallace]

You may have a point.
Something I didn't take into account was the fact Sasha brought up the doghouse a few strips ago. This is an indication on Rick's part that it was significant therefore whatever feelings King has/had for Sasha would have begun roughly either the night they met or around the time he built it. I was thinking of the dog house as King's animal rights activist side but even if that was part of it there is no reason that semi-romantic feelings couldn't have played a role in it's construction. I still wouldn't give the drunk scene any credibility beyond a joke or King simply being drunk but the doghouse being mentioned again means it was significant or is now. Any feelings that King had would have been suppressed until meeting Bailey when they became too powerful to control and any feelings for Sasha would have been moved to Bailey until now when Bailey is missing for the moment and those old feelings are returning. Again like a sitcom. Thinking about it from a sitcom or a romance perspective, Sasha was there for King at the lowest point of his life. That moment would in itself been perfect fodder for feelings. A bond was formed that would not be so easily broken or ignored.
So from this logic (shifting gears for a second) this story is not about some cheap sitcom moment where Bailey walks through the door and may or may not react accordingly depending on your idea of how dogs would handle this situation, but instead King coming to terms with a part of himself that he didn't know or didn't want to remember existed within him. The last lingering parts of him rejecting his dog ness or realizing whatever feelings he has for Sasha is more than a "Crush" but a deeper connection that he didn't realize that was there and therefore making him grow as a person. Taking into account Sasha is going to be living there clearly these feelings need to be resolved. That way King realizes that what he feels isn't a "crush" but something deeper and therefore he can live alongside Sasha for the time being without slowly dying inside. Something along the lines of "What I have with you (Sasha) is special but not the same as how I feel about Bailey. I like you but I don't like you like that."

I couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you for reminding us about the doghouse getting brought up two strips back. King blushing so much reenforces that King at least saw it as a romantic gesture at the time.

As for the valentine's day thing, I have been in places, especially some schools, where people were made to give valentine's gifts to ALL (both sexes and peeps) the kids there of their grade and home classroom, and plus, a few high schools have it were some close female friends of other female friends give gifts to each other out of friendship, and some male friends have this done to them by (usually as a prank, not saying this is the case with king and sasha) other males, or a female to male (and vice-versa) and not really mean anything.

Then again we don't know the circumstances in which have the gift. Seeing as he had to find a way to get all the stuff for the house, let alone FIND the house (which knowing king I don't think he went around the neighborhood looking for a thrown out house on Valetines day, and would get ALL the stuff for it with in enough time to give it to her near her house, connected to the house in someway, all before bino could give his gift, which seeing the of the possible position of the sun, looks between early daylight to midafternoon), I would venture to say it was coincidental timing to give the gift he probably was going to give her either way even if it wasn't valentine's day, and just gave it to her early morning, with enough time for bino to give his gift when it was really bright out in the sky was blue. And seeing as February is generally in winter, and daylight hours are shorter (in the more temperate zones (atleast in the USA from what I have seen) tend to have dark to sunset set in around 4:30-5:30, and seeing as 12:00 noon is only a few hours before 4, and she played the piano with bino for atleast seemingly awhile before the staple eyes and ears thing, it still seemed to show blue sky light leaking in from my perception of things, or could be light bouncing kf the snow that tricks me).

That's very creative to look at position of the sun to establish the timeline, however you overlooked two crucial details. First, there's nothing saying for it to be a legitimate Valentines present you have to wait until the last minute and make it start to finish all on Valentines day. Second, that arc doesn't take place on Valentines day. The arc starts on May 10th (or around there. Dates in the comic don't have to line up with dates in the real world, but there was the line about Mothers' day). Even if King only worked on his present the day of, he could finish at midnight and still beat Bino.

Sure there exists platonic Valentines stuff, but as mentioned earlier the doghouse was un-platonic enough for King to get embarrassed about it.

My advice to King, a quote,

"DO NOT DO IT!
DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING IT!
DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT NOT DOING!"

~ The Soldier, 2007(ish)

I think that exact line is closer to 2008.

Yeah, the whole "crush" thing is a little weird, but maybe it's because it wasn't so much emphasized and we mostly saw King interacting with Bailey instead of any other female dogs? It is a little confusing.

I'm just wondering why a bath of all the things does give her pleasent memories. Maybe she really likes to be groomed.
It reminds me in one strip she was participating in a dog show and maybe it's because she is treated like a star, someone important?
Maybe her owner once did a nice thing to her by giving her a bath or several?
Maybe it's just me, but I think this could reveal something interesting.
Or she just likes getting pampered once in a while

yeah, there was a short dog show episode involving Sasha, but she was more of supporting player in that vignette. She was involved in a conversation with a very disgruntled Duchess who was miffed about coming in third place. I don't remember if Sasha prized in the show. We also met Colleen and Karo, apparently frenemies of Duchess and obviously of the same Fitzgeraldine social class. They have never been seen since.....

Sasha only had a cameo in that arc, after the show was over. I think you might be confusing it with the Charity Cuteness Contest guest strip.

[ZAR22]

As for the valentine's day thing, I have been in places, especially some schools, where people were made to give valentine's gifts to ALL (both sexes and peeps) the kids there of their grade and home classroom, and plus, a few high schools have it were some close female friends of other female friends give gifts to each other out of friendship, and some male friends have this done to them by (usually as a prank, not saying this is the case with king and sasha) other males, or a female to male (and vice-versa) and not really mean anything.

Then again we don't know the circumstances in which have the gift. Seeing as he had to find a way to get all the stuff for the house, let alone FIND the house (which knowing king I don't think he went around the neighborhood looking for a thrown out house on Valetines day, and would get ALL the stuff for it with in enough time to give it to her near her house, connected to the house in someway, all before bino could give his gift, which seeing the of the possible position of the sun, looks between early daylight to midafternoon), I would venture to say it was coincidental timing to give the gift he probably was going to give her either way even if it wasn't valentine's day, and just gave it to her early morning, with enough time for bino to give his gift when it was really bright out in the sky was blue. And seeing as February is generally in winter, and daylight hours are shorter (in the more temperate zones (atleast in the USA from what I have seen) tend to have dark to sunset set in around 4:30-5:30, and seeing as 12:00 noon is only a few hours before 4, and she played the piano with bino for atleast seemingly awhile before the staple eyes and ears thing, it still seemed to show blue sky light leaking in from my perception of things, or could be light bouncing kf the snow that tricks me).

That's very creative to look at position of the sun to establish the timeline, however you overlooked two crucial details. First, there's nothing saying for it to be a legitimate Valentines present you have to wait until the last minute and make it start to finish all on Valentines day. Second, that arc doesn't take place on Valentines day. The arc starts on May 10th (or around there. Dates in the comic don't have to line up with dates in the real world, but there was the line about Mothers' day). Even if King only worked on his present the day of, he could finish at midnight and still beat Bino.

Sure there exists platonic Valentines stuff, but as mentioned earlier the doghouse was un-platonic enough for King to get embarrassed about it.

Yes, nothing says it has to be on valentine's day, but generally, given some of the context, despite the days not lining up with ours (see bathhouse scenario as one piece of evidence I can think of at the moment), it does seem implied that the gift was either given before, or in the VERY earlier morning of the holiday in question, which means he had to be atleast working on the dog house for a while, and the it just happens to be competed on the month that valentine's day takes place. And while the day the arc happened doesn't line up with hours, that isn't to say the days in the house pets universe doesn't work differently, or that the universe happens at a different times then ours.

It could be Feburary in there while may in here for us.

But he still had to give the gift before bino did, which I don't see him waking sasha up in the middle of the night, before day break, to give her the gift. This, in my opinion, still seems like sheer LUCKY coincidence that he was able to give it to her on valentine's day.

And I wouldn't say un-platonic as it is sasha making king blush, due to the type of dude king is, and if I recall, I think he blushed at a few other dogs and animals about non romantic things, and seems to be just a quirk of his of blushing or overreacting. And given that sasha is known to have this effect on alot of dogs, like making them blush (or atleast seem like it) and make dogs quickly out of their comfort zone (see fido), I think it wasn't un-platonic, and more of circumstances that he is blushing (especially considering if certain dudes who have similar personalities to king, had a wife, and another attractive female comes along and seems like their hitting on them while the guy wants to stay faithful to the wife) due to sasha's mannerisms and getting right up in his face, aka his personal space. He did used to be human, and some human like traits are still shown in king from time to time. And given he is essientally giving sasha a bath, where she would be what the some of the pets WOULD consider naked, I would feel uncomfortable too.

I don't think is into her like that, more or less a minor infatuation, like grape gets when she sees hot cats, or hunks in general.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Though some of the difference is that Grape can at least control her impulses and not hurt Max like that. From the way King keeps fighting with himself, it looks like his will is weakening.

[ZAR22]

Though some of the difference is that Grape can at least control her impulses and not hurt Max like that. From the way King keeps fighting with himself, it looks like his will is weakening.

Doesn't seem like she can control it, more of having a boyfriend who knows what's up, and doesn't mind her gushing over other dudes.

[Champion Wallace]

I agree with a lot of what you're saying about time, ZAR22. Days don't always line up with ours, but days in that universe don't work differently. I will concede it's possible King didn't give the doghouse on February 14. Given how long it takes Sasha to go through her presents there's nearly a quarter year window where a present could be taken as a Valentines gift (I still think he did because I don't think King's the type of dog to pass something off as for Valentines when it's the wrong day and/or not his intention, but that's not the most important thing right now).

Regardless of everything else, one thing I'm sure of is Bino did not regift everything on February 14. In Give A Dog A Bone, Fox specifically says "If you hurry, I think Walgreens should still have leftover Mothers' day stuff". Mothers' day is May 10th. For there to be leftover Mothers' day stuff, it must take place on or after Mothers' day. QED Bino did not regift everything on February 14. It's not just the case that nothing says it has to be on Valentine's day, the comic actively tells you it's nearly three months later. You don't need any lucky coincidences or early morning gifting for this to work out. My previous statement that the strip took place on May 10th could be wrong if it was actually a few days after, but then it's even farther from Valentines day.

[ZAR22]

Fair point

[NHWestoN]

You may have a point.
Something I didn't take into account was the fact Sasha brought up the doghouse a few strips ago. This is an indication on Rick's part that it was significant therefore whatever feelings King has/had for Sasha would have begun roughly either the night they met or around the time he built it. I was thinking of the dog house as King's animal rights activist side but even if that was part of it there is no reason that semi-romantic feelings couldn't have played a role in it's construction. I still wouldn't give the drunk scene any credibility beyond a joke or King simply being drunk but the doghouse being mentioned again means it was significant or is now. Any feelings that King had would have been suppressed until meeting Bailey when they became too powerful to control and any feelings for Sasha would have been moved to Bailey until now when Bailey is missing for the moment and those old feelings are returning. Again like a sitcom. Thinking about it from a sitcom or a romance perspective, Sasha was there for King at the lowest point of his life. That moment would in itself been perfect fodder for feelings. A bond was formed that would not be so easily broken or ignored.
So from this logic (shifting gears for a second) this story is not about some cheap sitcom moment where Bailey walks through the door and may or may not react accordingly depending on your idea of how dogs would handle this situation, but instead King coming to terms with a part of himself that he didn't know or didn't want to remember existed within him. The last lingering parts of him rejecting his dog ness or realizing whatever feelings he has for Sasha is more than a "Crush" but a deeper connection that he didn't realize that was there and therefore making him grow as a person. Taking into account Sasha is going to be living there clearly these feelings need to be resolved. That way King realizes that what he feels isn't a "crush" but something deeper and therefore he can live alongside Sasha for the time being without slowly dying inside. Something along the lines of "What I have with you (Sasha) is special but not the same as how I feel about Bailey. I like you but I don't like you like that."

I couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you for reminding us about the doghouse getting brought up two strips back. King blushing so much reenforces that King at least saw it as a romantic gesture at the time.

As for the valentine's day thing, I have been in places, especially some schools, where people were made to give valentine's gifts to ALL (both sexes and peeps) the kids there of their grade and home classroom, and plus, a few high schools have it were some close female friends of other female friends give gifts to each other out of friendship, and some male friends have this done to them by (usually as a prank, not saying this is the case with king and sasha) other males, or a female to male (and vice-versa) and not really mean anything.

Then again we don't know the circumstances in which have the gift. Seeing as he had to find a way to get all the stuff for the house, let alone FIND the house (which knowing king I don't think he went around the neighborhood looking for a thrown out house on Valetines day, and would get ALL the stuff for it with in enough time to give it to her near her house, connected to the house in someway, all before bino could give his gift, which seeing the of the possible position of the sun, looks between early daylight to midafternoon), I would venture to say it was coincidental timing to give the gift he probably was going to give her either way even if it wasn't valentine's day, and just gave it to her early morning, with enough time for bino to give his gift when it was really bright out in the sky was blue. And seeing as February is generally in winter, and daylight hours are shorter (in the more temperate zones (atleast in the USA from what I have seen) tend to have dark to sunset set in around 4:30-5:30, and seeing as 12:00 noon is only a few hours before 4, and she played the piano with bino for atleast seemingly awhile before the staple eyes and ears thing, it still seemed to show blue sky light leaking in from my perception of things, or could be light bouncing kf the snow that tricks me).

That's very creative to look at position of the sun to establish the timeline, however you overlooked two crucial details. First, there's nothing saying for it to be a legitimate Valentines present you have to wait until the last minute and make it start to finish all on Valentines day. Second, that arc doesn't take place on Valentines day. The arc starts on May 10th (or around there. Dates in the comic don't have to line up with dates in the real world, but there was the line about Mothers' day). Even if King only worked on his present the day of, he could finish at midnight and still beat Bino.

Sure there exists platonic Valentines stuff, but as mentioned earlier the doghouse was un-platonic enough for King to get embarrassed about it.

My advice to King, a quote,

"DO NOT DO IT!
DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING IT!
DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT NOT DOING!"

~ The Soldier, 2007(ish)

I think that exact line is closer to 2008.

Yeah, the whole "crush" thing is a little weird, but maybe it's because it wasn't so much emphasized and we mostly saw King interacting with Bailey instead of any other female dogs? It is a little confusing.

I'm just wondering why a bath of all the things does give her pleasent memories. Maybe she really likes to be groomed.
It reminds me in one strip she was participating in a dog show and maybe it's because she is treated like a star, someone important?
Maybe her owner once did a nice thing to her by giving her a bath or several?
Maybe it's just me, but I think this could reveal something interesting.
Or she just likes getting pampered once in a while

yeah, there was a short dog show episode involving Sasha, but she was more of supporting player in that vignette. She was involved in a conversation with a very disgruntled Duchess who was miffed about coming in third place. I don't remember if Sasha prized in the show. We also met Colleen and Karo, apparently frenemies of Duchess and obviously of the same Fitzgeraldine social class. They have never been seen since.....

Sasha only had a cameo in that arc, after the show was over. I think you might be confusing it with the Charity Cuteness Contest guest strip.

Nope, t'wasn't the "guest strip". Sasha's role in Rick's version was - how odd - second banana to Duchess, a cameo if you like. NBD.

[FireworkFox]

Did I mention how cute Sasha looks in this comic?

[NHWestoN]

No...but good you did. Someone should.

[FireworkFox]

I wanna give her a hug! (I mean, who wouldn't? ...besides King.)

[Amazee Dayzee]

You might want to wait until she gets out of the bath.

Unless you wanna fall in with her. XD

[Champion Wallace]

Nope, t'wasn't the "guest strip". Sasha's role in Rick's version was - how odd - second banana to Duchess, a cameo if you like. NBD.

In that case could you provide a link to the strip where Sasha participated in a dog show and/or "was involved in a conversation with a very disgruntled Duchess who was miffed about coming in third place."? If you we're thinking of the guest strip than perhaps you are confusing The Artist Makes No Claims To The Accuracy Of The View where Sasha and Duchess are watching a dog show on TV with the events of Show Business. In that strip Sasha is chatting with Duchess about dog shows, but neither are competing let alone getting third place and Sasha co-starts that strip. The introduction (and only appearance) of Colleen and Karo didn't happen for another 6.5 month in the Show Business arc. Sasha did have a cameo then, but he role was hardly comparable to Duchess. They weren't even ever in the same strip.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I remember Sasha BEING there but I'm pretty sure that she didn't compete there and she came along as Duchess friend (though I use that term with Duchess VERY loosely).

[NHWestoN]

Nope, t'wasn't the "guest strip". Sasha's role in Rick's version was - how odd - second banana to Duchess, a cameo if you like. NBD.

In that case could you provide a link to the strip where Sasha participated in a dog show and/or "was involved in a conversation with a very disgruntled Duchess who was miffed about coming in third place."? If you we're thinking of the guest strip than perhaps you are confusing The Artist Makes No Claims To The Accuracy Of The View where Sasha and Duchess are watching a dog show on TV with the events of Show Business. In that strip Sasha is chatting with Duchess about dog shows, but neither are competing let alone getting third place and Sasha co-starts that strip. The introduction (and only appearance) of Colleen and Karo didn't happen for another 6.5 month in the Show Business arc. Sasha did have a cameo then, but he role was hardly comparable to Duchess. They weren't even ever in the same strip.

Those are the strips I was thinking of.