So wife and I spent a few days out of town recently, which meant we had to deal with that most gut-wrenching and fretful of all issues: What do we do with the dogs?
Elderly dog, Lucy, had a wonderful, loving drop-in dog sitter. But young, bouncy Labradoodle, Perry, got to stay at a local doggy B & B. There he could bark and romp to his heart’s content, sniffing the posteriors of the other rowdy guests at will.
When we went to collect Perry many of the other anxious dog owners were there doing the same with their own precious proctological pets. One by one, the joyful reunions couldn’t help but make you grin.
It all got me to thinking again about why us humans love dogs so much. Humans and dogs have been pals for 10,000 years, scientists tell us.
It is, of course, a tribute to the genius of dogs that they realized we are a soft touch — endear themselves to us and live a life of pampered luxury! But why do we love ‘em so much?
My theory is that it’s at least partly because they can’t talk. So our imaginations fill in the blanks. And we fill them in lovingly. We ascribe sweet motives to their every action. We overlay a personality template onto our dogs, and it’s usually one that appeals to us. Maybe it keeps us sane and kinder to our fellow man.
Well, anyhow, our current president has no dog. You have to go back to 1901 and William McKinley to find another dog-less White House. Draw your own conclusion.
