Dogs – A Look at Why They Truly Are Man’s Best Friend

Dogs and humans have been inseparable for many thousands of years. Wherever you find humans in the world, you’ll almost certainly find dogs accompanying them. These amazing creatures proved to be smarter than we have ever imagined. Astonishing new researches reveal that dogs are more than just tamed wild animals. Their ability to read our emotions so effectively is what makes our relationship special. Some even claim that dogs possess a special kind of social intelligence which allows them to get along with people in the way that is unique in the whole animal kingdom.

Every dog person will tell you that dogs feel humans’ emotions like anger, happiness, despair, fear, and so on. Dogs were once fearsome predators, but today they are the most loving pets. Right now, there are almost half a billion dogs and we treat them as members of a family, almost as human beings. We share our lives, our homes, even our beds with dogs. Many a dog owner would agree that his pet is not just part of the family, it is family.

According to a research published in the Animal Cognition journal, canines are responsive to human emotions more than any other species, including humans. Asking for no reward, dogs will approach strangers in distress trying to comfort them by nuzzling and licking. That specific dog’s behavior was tested in the experiment that included 18 pet dogs. Those dogs were faced with two unfamiliar persons – one who was pretending to cry and the other who was talking casually. All of the 18 dogs responded to the person who was pretending to cry and offered comfort.

Loyalty to their owners is common for all dogs, but one breed stands out. Akita is a large fluffy dog originating in the northern Japan. Unbelievable and sad life story made an Akita a legend among dog breeds. An Akita named Hachiko followed his owner to the train station every day. His owner was a professor in another town. At exactly 4 p.m. Hachiko would arrive at the train station to meet his owner. Some years later, the professor died from stroke at work, but loyal Hachiko waited at the train station every single day for the next ten years until he passed away. Statue of Hachiko in bronze at Shibuya train station in Japan reminds us why dogs truly are man’s best friend.

Unlike humans, dogs have no tendency to criticize, to be racists, to stab in the back, to murder or have prejudice. Without any question dog will accept the owner no matter if he is poor, blind, crippled, old or young. Dogs give everything and ask very little in return – food, water and place to sleep. If you take good and proper care of your dog and you treat him with love, be sure that love will be returned. You will mean the whole world to your dog and your dog will mean everything to you.