I'm a little tired of the elevator conversation right now

Dear Elevator People,

You know what I'm sick of? I'm sick of people commenting in the elevator about how hard it must be to have dogs while living in this apartment building. Just when I get comfortable with it all and think everything is balanced and zen again, someone has to open their big mouth on the four floor elevator ride and burst my bubble.

Do they think that somehow I don't KNOW how hard it can be?

YES- There are two of them
YES- The brown and white one is old
YES- they have to go out four times a day to pee
YES- There isn't a lot of grass nearby and therefore;
YES- they have to pee on the sidewalk, although I make them pee over at                 the side of it near the potted plants so that people won't have to walk  through it.
YES- I walk them myself. This is usually followed by shock and horror on the face of the asker and the question "Don't you have a maid!?"
YES- I have to pick up their poop in bags
YES- I realize that it is hot and that it's going to get hotter, and that it will be rough on EVERYONE in Abu Dhabi including the dogs. What I want to say to that is that these dogs come from a place where it gets to -40, and yet somehow they have survived 7 and 12 years respectively, obviously we'll take the proper precautions.
NO- this was NOT exactly where I wanted to live but its best for our family right now and frankly I am not going to explain to a stranger why I chose not to live in a villa.
NO-I don't think abandoning them in Canada or Italy would have been a better option and I want to punch the people who think that it is. (Yes Mr. Self-Righteous Australian man in the elevator I'm talking to you)

Also to the tenants who glare at us: If you don't want dogs in your building then I suggest you move to a building that doesn't allow dogs. Its quite simple really.

I was quite sympathetic at first with the people who screamed and threw themselves against walls when they saw the dogs but I have now lost all of my sympathy. Don't get me wrong, the guys out on the street who are seeing them for the first time and are scared, I am still sympathetic towards, and do everything to keep the dogs near me and assure them that I won't let them go. The people who live in this building have seen them enough times now that they should be able to recognize a LEASH when they see one and know that me HOLDING the leash means that the dog is restrained.(just like EVERY other time you've seen them) Screaming and jumping back is only going to rile my dog up more and make it more difficult for me to make her heel because now she thinks you want to play. I want to slap a few people in this building.

But I won't.

Because I'm yoga breathing and practicing the art of biting my tongue really hard. I'm worried that one of these days I might just bite it off!

So to all of you people in the elevator, having two dogs here is trying enough some days without having to answer your questions about how horrible it must be for us. If you'd like to chat about their age, breed, colour or how happy they are that they got to stay with their family during our expat adventures then I'd be more than happy to reply.

Sincerely,
Rachel with a very sore tongue.