*Editor’s note: This column originally appeared in the Herald in November 2010. It has been slightly reworked.
I recently received one of those emails that combines cute photos of animals with clever tidbits of text.
This one had some great pictures of dogs being dogs accompanied by the usual phrases of wisdom and witty quotes.
After I was done enjoying the doggie document, something I’ve pondered many times before crossed my mind again: We can learn a lot from dogs.
You see, dogs aren’t bound down by all the mental wrestling we humans go through every day, so they’re behavior isn’t affected by a bunch of intellectual and emotional baggage.
They’re not driven to act and react by the things that most motivate their so-called masters, like pride, recognition, revenge and societal status. And they definitely don’t measure their success as an Earthly life form by financial or material gain.
Basically, dogs just don’t have all the hang-ups humans have. In turn, they’re living with a freedom we’ll probably never know.
Allow me to elaborate by expounding on some excerpts from the email while tossing in my two cents here and there (which I know might be worth less than a penny in some circles).
It began by offering up the idea that the reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
Indeed. As well-known TV detective Adrian Monk might say, spoken words are “a blessing and a curse.”
Our voices and languages offer we humans a virtually boundless array of communicating and allow us to share knowledge and express feelings in ways that would otherwise be impossible. But they can also be a vehicle in the fast lane of the freeway to trouble, and we often seem all-too-willing to use our gift of speech to say a lot of negative, often downright mean things to and about each other.
If dogs could talk, I wonder if they wouldn’t just continue their tail-wagging and choose their words carefully.
The email also presented the notion that a dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
Never mind the “more” part – can you imagine a world in which people loved others even the same amount that they love themselves?
While love of self may not be in a dog’s daily regimen, but I think it’s safe to say it’s at or near the top of mankind’s to-do list. It seems like we’re often so busy pursuing self-gratification, we don’t want to be bothered taking time to consider our neighbors. We don’t want to hear about pitching in, helping out or working hard; let’s just talk entitlement and “what’s in this for me?”
The email went on to share a quote from Andy Rooney (that guy who added so much for so many years to the TV program, 60 Minutes) who said, “the average dog is a nicer person than the average person.”
Another quote it contained was one from Missouri author and philosopher Mark Twain, who said, “if you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.”
I guess our memory works better in some areas than others, because many of us in positions of wealth and status can’t seem to remember where we came from. And if someone gives us a gun with which to hunt, we’re liable to use it to rob the giver.
It has been said that you can sometimes look into a dog’s eyes and sense love. Look into another person’s eyes and the only sense you might get is one of disdain or resentment.
Maybe dogs are onto something.
Maybe they don’t give into corruption not because they can’t understand it, but because they can’t stand it.
Maybe they don’t lie not because of an inability to reason, but due to a lack of finding any reason.
Maybe their seemingly automatic loyalty doesn’t stem from obligation, but sensibility.
Maybe they act the way they do not because they have to, but because they should.
Maybe – as the old saying goes – it really is a dog’s life.
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald.
Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.
