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A twist on the old saying: “a dog is man’s best friend” is “man is a dog’s best friend.” It’s a turn of phrase that reminds us of our relationship with our canine family! Flip-flopping this classic saying also highlights the fact that dog’s are ultimately dependent on us for their survival.
Man has many friends. We are free to choose any friend we want, whether that be human, animal, or otherwise. We have the volition and freedom to choose who would be our companions and, on the other side of the coin, who we choose not to be friends with. We can choose multiple companions and have a variety of simultaneous relationships going at the same time on multiple levels – it’s the level of complexity that our human species has evolved to.
Dogs are a part of the total makeup of how we define ‘friendship.’
For dogs, however, things are much more simple! We are their ONLY FRIENDS. Sure dogs can have other dogs around the house, multiple people in their families and even have a social life at the dog park – I speak from experience here! However, even though they are pack animals, they only really have one true friend in their lives! That single person that they ‘imprint’ on when they are pups.
Just look to any household where you have a married couple and a dog, other children excluded. Any dog inevitably favors one of its owners, its mommy or daddy!
Studies have shown that the difference between wolves and dogs is a dog’s reliance upon a human for direction in problem solving. Whereas a wolf will keep on trying to figure out how to get a scrap of food lodged in between two objects, a dog will keep looking back towards a human for cues and commands. We are a part of their pack.
Dogs rely on us implicitly for their livelihood. They rely on us for food, shelter, and love! They rely on us for their complete emotional and physical state. Stated in the opposite: without humans, dogs have nothing. I’m trying to fire up a whole lot of empathy here; empathy for our best friends. Dogs just love their best friends to be empathetic.
The point of this article is to inspire you to take another look at your role as a dog owner and conceive of yourself of more than just an ‘owner’ but also as your dog’s best friend. Friendship works two ways; it’s a two-way street. If a dog is man’s best friend, then man should be a dog’s best friend!!!
So go out and hug your dog today! Take him or her out for a walk! Spend time with them today! Carve out your schedule to spend time with them each and every day and give them all the love they deserve!!!
=> FIND OUT HOW MY DOG WATCHES TELEVISION!!!
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