Why do people think dogs are so special?

[FidelCashflow]

I've never understood why dogs are put on such a pedestal in western countries, particularly in America. It happens with lots of other pets, but never to the same extent as dogs. Some people seem to care for their dogs more than they care about other people and treat their dogs as if they are their children. People find the idea of a dog dying a painful death almost as horrific as a human dying a painful death. This doesn't seem to apply to other animals either. If someone shoots a dog for sport, it's a crime, if the same person shoots a deer or moose, or whatever else for sport, it's just a past-time. Why do dogs have such an exalted status?

At this rate 10,000 years from now archaeologists are going to dig up a LV dog carrier, see videos of dog therapists, and find the ruins of a pet store, and think we worshiped dogs like the Egyptians worshiped cats.

I condemn animal cruelty, so don't get it twisted.

 

[Coho]

<==== I mean look at it.

 

[hi-val]

Over thousands of years, the most loyal and person-friendly dogs won evolutionary bingo. There's a species of animal specially bred to be amenable to humans. Of course people are going to like a being engineered to be likeable.

 

[tiecollector]

Because when your wife has left you and your kids hate you, your dog will be the only there to lick your ass.

 

[Karo]

Originally Posted by tiecollector

Because when your wife has left you and your kids hate you, your dog will be the only there to lick your ass.

Amen.

But its sad to know your dog is going to die fifty years before you do. I suggest getting a dog when you're about to retire.

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by Karo

Amen. But its sad to know your dog is going to die fifty years before you do. I suggest getting a dog when you're about to retire.
I think with proper nutrition dogs and cats can live much much longer than the current average. Regular pet food is very bad for them. My cat was lethargic and overweight while on Iams. I started researching it and started giving him some hippy **** and in 3 days he started running around the house. My family is pissed at me and I'm single, so the only thing happy to see me right now is my cat. I love my cat to death and am getting him acupuncture soon, so there.

 

[Karo]

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=58630

 

[Fade to Black]

I love dogs. They give me a sense of security, in my lowest moments of despair I can look at a dog and feel as if all is right for that moment. Their love is unconditional. I would argue dogs are even better than kids, dogs are the one thing untarnished by the ugliness and cynicism so pervasive in the world nowadays...

 

[Coho]

Walking with my GF to the mall vs walking with my dog to the beach. I will always choose the latter. There's something very beautiful about a companion who knows when to shut up and when to bark. I can't say the same for women or kids or people in general.

Originally Posted by Fade to Black

I love dogs. They give me a sense of security, in my lowest moments of despair I can look at a dog and feel as if all is right for that moment. Their love is unconditional. I would argue dogs are even better than kids, dogs are the one thing untarnished by the ugliness and cynicism so pervasive in the world nowadays...

 

[Fade to Black]

my favorite dogs are pomeranians. I love them so much me and my mom even have an inside joke going where I will sometimes refer to her as my &quot;pom&quot; and I joked that when she passes away I'd like for her to be reincarnated as a black pomeranian so she can keep me company.

 

[lefty]

This is why ...

From the wiki:

Senator George Vest and Old Drum.

After the war, Vest returned to Pettis County moving to Sedalia, Missouri and resumed his law practice. It was at this time in 1869 that he was asked to represent Burden and Old Drum in the case that would make him famous.

Vest took the case tried on September 23, 1870 in which he represented a client whose hunting dog, a foxhound named Drum (or Old Drum), had been killed by a sheep farmer. The farmer had previously announced his intentions to kill any dog found on his property; the dog's owner was suing for damages in the amount of $150, the maximum allowed by law.

During the trial, Vest stated that he would "win the case or apologize to every dog in Missouri." Vest's closing argument to the jury made no reference to any of the testimony offered during the trial, and instead offered a eulogy of sorts. Vest's "Eulogy on the Dog" is one of the most enduring passages of purple prose in American courtroom history (only a partial transcript has survived):

"Gentlemen of the jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.

Gentleman of the jury: A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death."

Vest won the case (a possibly apocryphal story of the case says that the jury awarded $500 to the dog's owner, far more than had been asked for) and also won its appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court. A statue of the dog stands in front of the Warrensburg, Missouri courthouse.

lefty

 

[Thomas]

There are no country-western songs about a dog leaving you, because it won't happen. Can't say that about parents or children or spouses or friends or employers or subordinates.

 

[edmorel]

because they can, and do, lick their junk.

 

[visionology]

People like dogs because they seemingly have a personality, a trait that is lacking in other animals. Cats are cold creatures, and other creatures like birds and reptitles can't really be played with or taught easily, they have too many limitations. That leaves dogs.

 

[James Bond]

Cats aren't cold; they just don't like you.