Do animals enhance the lives of humans?

 

 

Man's best friend: Dogs and other pets are great mates to their owners and carers.

Photo generic - extraordinarydogs.org



 

 



This video below is so adorable and heartening, when a beautiful dog tries to get the attention of its heartbroken owner:

http://www.caringdog.venuspets.com/caring-dog-comforts-owner/#

Apparently, if you are a dog owner, it all comes down to the fact that you are the centre of your dog's life and all your behaviours affect them.

So they can pick up when you are upset, happy, applying favouritism or distracted by a new baby in the family or even a new pet coming into the house!

A dog's intellect is equal to that of a 2-year-old child they say, so they can pick up on what humans do.

That put together with a more than keen sense of smell and hearing, means we probably don't give them the recognition for their abilities, that they deserve.

Some clever dogs have been known to draw their owners' attention to possible disease in the human body, such as cancer.

http://www.dognotebook.com/15-amazing-things-your-dog-can-sense-about-you/8/

I remember a time when I arrived at my best friend's house one lunch hour, really upset from hearing some bad news at work, that morning.

Her two dogs, one in particular, came up to me and whined, placed her large head on my lap, looking lovingly up into my eyes and the smaller one settled herself down at my feet, also looking up at me.

I remember asking my friend, 'why are your dogs crowding me?'

She said, 'they can sense that you're upset and they're comforting you'.

I was touched by their actions and while still snivelling, I patted and stroked the large canine head that was on my lap and leaned down and patted the smaller body hunched down on the floor at my feet.

After a while, I noticed that as my mood lifted, after talking with my friend, the dogs' moods appeared to change also and they both began to move quickly around near where I and my friend were sitting at her kitchen table and wagging their tales.

My friend also used to tell me, from time to time, that one or the other of her dogs were smiling. I couldn't tell if a dog was smiling or not but she was an avid animal person and she said there was a definite way of telling when a dog was smiling... I don't know, maybe!

But they are definitely man's best friend in so many ways and it would seem that pets generally, not just dogs, do seem to enhance the lives of humans.

Beating the odds would love to hear your animal interaction stories! Tell us them in the comments section.