How’s that for a provocative headline? I feel the need to start off by saying I love dogs, especially MY dog, Koala, who is the best doggie ever in the history of ever.
But as I walked her this morning, and she strained with all her strength to devour a discarded cheeseburger wrapper, having ignored her bowl full of healthy dog food, I thought, “Yeah, I don’t want to eat my healthy food, either. I want a cheeseburger. Dogs are a lot like humans.”
I’ve often heard the statement that dogs are BETTER than us, and I liked the statement, but felt a little unsure. I have seen dogs fight over silly things, posture with pure toxic ego, fall out with each other, and this little devil tried to trick me into letting her off the outdoor chain by pretending to want to go inside.
Yeah, no – your choices are chain, or inside, not neither.
It seems to me, that when a person says dogs are better than people, what they are really saying is, “I prefer interactions where I am the boss.” For most of us, having a dog is the only situation in which we enjoy the unquestioned approval that comes from having a subordinate. Or maybe, more kindly, “I prefer interactions that are simple, without complex context.” You always know where you stand with a dog. It’s not that they are any more honest than humans, it’s that their needs and desires are more circumscribed.
Dogs are not looking for meaningful career options, or an explanation for dogs’ indogmanity to dog. Then again, sometimes I look in her eyes and it seems like there is a touch of angst there. A “But why does day job exist? Why not cuddles all the time?”
Perhaps that is the real weighty question?
It’s also not that dogs approve everyone, unquestioningly. Even Koala. She LOVES humans… on our daily walks she strains with wagging tail to meet ANYONE, until suddenly, with no explanation, she’s furious at the existence of some random person. Sometimes even someone she’s let pet her before. What was it? An unexpected smell? A hat? Only Koala knows.
And, really, dogs shouldn’t like everyone, unquestioningly, any more than we should. What if they are a dog-napper?
Animals don’t have a lack of cognition, they have a different level of it. They clearly have emotions, social ties, and the problems that stem from those. Don’t sell dogs short, or people. We’re both just trying to forge a path through life. Give people a little of the benefit you give dogs, because people aren’t a worse animal; they are only dogs with more to worry about.
