A Dog Is My Best Friend
How many times have we heard and affirmed that a dog is the best friend a human can have. However, something that repeats itself furiously can end up emptying itself of content or becoming commonplace without much foundation. So how much truth is left in this statement? From My Animals we allow ourselves some reflections in this regard.
Where did the phrase “the dog is man’s best friend” come from?
The origin of the phrase “the dog is man’s best friend” is to be found in Missouri, USA There, towards the end of the 19th century, it was pronounced in a trial by lawyer George Graham Vest.
The professional had been hired by a person whose dog was murdered by a neighboring farmer, named Old Drum.
The lawyer used, in his final argument, many of the reasons that are used today to justify why furry people are considered the best friends of people. The text was later released under the title Praise of the Dog .
Good Reasons Dogs Are Considered Human’s Best Friends
Everyone has the right to choose their friends, of that there is no doubt. And dogs give us many reasons to consider them good friends. Among them:
- They are faithful.
- They do not discriminate against us because of our appearance, age, social condition, etc.
- They sense when something is not quite right with us and they try to comfort us.
- They defend us if someone tries to attack us.
- They give us good company, keeping loneliness and depression away.
- They can detect if we suffer from any disease.
Is it a sign of friendship that they don’t question us?
However, some of the reasons that many use to affirm that the dog is the best friend of the man, do not seem entirely good. And they are even questionable if they are analyzed well.
For example, it is claimed that dogs are our best friends because they do not judge us. They love us no matter what we do.
On a human level, this attitude does not seem like a good friend. If we take the example to an extreme and someone is a hit man, or a rapist, or scamming helpless old men, shouldn’t they be questioned for this attitude?
Of course, the dog is not to blame here. Nor does he have to know what his owner does. What we question is the fact that we consider it a positive thing that our bad behaviors are not questioned.
Other reasons that can be questioned in relation to the aforementioned friendship between dogs and people
Other things that usually stand out to point to dogs as man’s best friends are that they accompany us wherever we take them without complaining, or that they are not spiteful.
And here the question is to ask why an animal should hold a grudge against its owner. And the only explanation is because he treated him badly and caused him some physical or psychological harm.
So, we are no longer talking about a healthy relationship. It is not a good friend to hurt or to endure abuse in the name of friendship.
At this point it could be said that although a dog can be considered man’s best friend, the human being does not always turn out to be the dog’s best friend.
For the man to be the dog’s best friend
Then there is the issue that the relationship with our pet can become, in certain cases, unhealthy. For example, that we live only for her and we leave aside the contact with humans.
In any case, considering the dog as a good friend is something positive as long as we can develop relationships of all kinds with people.
The important thing, in addition, is that we manage to give content to the famous phrase and honor it, becoming the best friends of the furry ones. And that is achieved by respecting their nature as a dog, setting clear rules of conduct for them and making ourselves responsible for taking good care of them.
