Why Are Dogs In Our lives?
Believers will say it’s a gift from God – no pun intended in the word spelled backwards-, scientists will say it’s about evolution. The fact is that we have these wonderful friends with us, which also happen to have been our companions since long time ago and have endurance all kind of adventures with us.
Dogs are the only species that in general can get this close to humans. While humankind has always taken for companions and helpers many types of animals, the most popular one and the one that can follow humans further is always the dog. Also is the only one who came willingly to stay with us…
Have you realize how many guide dogs make human lives even possible? Service dogs, rescuers, shepherds, hunting dogs, you name it, all these lovely creatures provide help, company and even entertainment (sometimes even in a wrong way!), just in exchange of what? Human love. They could have stayed the way they were, as wolves, wild, taking care of their own packs, living their lives according to Nature’s rules, without exposing themselves to the sometimes extreme cruelty and madness of men. Yet they chose to come with us, stay with us, give us al their energy and hard word, only for the prize of our company. Are we really that great?
Dogs have their particular way to get to us. Unless you’re an ice-hearted person, when a dog looks at you, you don’t have any other option but to feel compelled to touch him or her and to give them love back.
There are other things that make dogs stand out from other species, for instance, the fact that they “scan” our face in the same way we do with other humans or animals: looking at our eyes, they start form our right eye to the left eye. Not even monkeys do this. Only dogs and humans.
Another trait that has been reported only for dogs is when a person looks into a particular thing, dogs that have developed a good bond with their owner will look at that thing too, searching for the origin of their owner’s attention. Again, not even monkeys do that.
Looking into the evolutionary side of the relationship between man and dog, the fact that dogs, who come from wolves ancestors, have developed more pronounced foreheads and bigger, rounder eyes, like those attributes babies have in order to get attention and sympathy from human individuals, gives proof that the species has evolved into a set of characteristics to please, better interact, and collaborate with humans.
Whether you prefer the religious or the Darwinian explanation, one thing is universal: Dogs have been the most loyal friends mankind has had, and at this very moment, life without them would be miserable and less happy. Hopefully people understand that even when we don’t deserve them, we still have these unconditional friends. Just because.