A statue stands at a railway station in the Akita Prefecture in Japan honoring the loyal dog who waited patiently for the train carrying the beloved master who would never return. Greyfrier's Bobby is legendary for sleeping on his master's grave until they met once again in spirit. The true tales of the loyalty and devotion given to mankind by companion animals are too numerous to recount.
Human beings are taught that they are the only members of the animal kingdom capable of true love, but what about the dolphin that saved the life of a drowning sailor, or the gorilla who recently rescued the youngster who fell into her pen at the zoo? Instinct? Highly doubtful.
Perhaps the confusion comes with mankind's understanding of what love and friendship really are. Perhaps if we were to reach a level of understanding of love - not as a state of emotion but as a state of being, the true creative force which animates all things - we would be capable of understanding the "unexplainable" acts of love and friendship shown to us by our brothers and sisters in the animal kingdom. Perhaps too, we would be capable of giving to each other the totally non-judgmental, totally accepting kind of friendship, love and devotion given to us by our companion animals.
Someone I know once referred to friendship as "mutual usury". This, of course, implies some sort of expectation upon the individuals in exchange for their friendship. Unfortunately, we humans tend to do just that, especially with anyone whom we consider more than just an acquaintance. As a matter of fact, it seems that the greater the attachment, the greater the expectation of return. This is where we desperately need to take lessons from the "lower animals", especially those animals which mankind, generations ago, took into his home and selectively bread to be a member of the family.
Companion animals do far more for us that guard our homes or fetch our slippers. Studies have revealed that people who have companion animals actually live longer that people who don't, and that children who learn to love and care for pets show less of a tendency toward violence and aggression. What is it about companion animals that brings out the best in us? Friendship in its ultimate form: love without expectations, without judgments. That kind of love and friendship which we so desperately need and desire in our human companions, but that seems almost impossible to find. Ironically, the selfless caring that seems almost to be against "human nature" appears to be totally a part of Mother Nature.
Another interesting bit of irony is that, according to the Bible, God created man in His image, and man essentially created dog (God spelled backward) in his image. How so? When the wild form of the dog was introduced into the human family, he fit in easily because the canine is a pack or family type of animal by nature and readily accepted the human family as his new pack. At the time, people were hunters and warriors, so the wild dogs' skills as a hunter and guardian not only fitted in, but were extremely helpful to their new friends.
As time went on, man adopted other methods of survival such as farming. Since the dog was evolving as a part of the human way of life, people who were of a more peaceful, farming nature bread and trained their canine companions to be as useful in this lifestyle as he had been in battle or on the hunt. Seafaring humans created seafaring dogs. The Emperor of China created the Pekinese to ride in his long sleeves and sit with him on his throne, and so on, and so on.
Because each of these different types of life-styles requires a different temperament of person to be happy in them, the dogs created by these people to be their helpmate and companion reflected the temperaments of their human counterparts.
To this day, individuals are drawn to certain breeds of dogs and are drawn not only by the way the breed looks, but on a subconscious level by the fact that that breed in some way reflects or complements the person's basic nature or personality. Even down to things they may not want to admit to themselves! Much like astrological signs, a lot can be learned about a person by saying, "Hi, What's your dog?" This works even if the person doesn't own a dog. Find out if there is a breed of dog that they might like to own someday or one that they are particularly drawn to. (By the way, "cat people" have personality types too.)
This fact can be very helpful in compatibility questions as well. For instance, a Borzoi person will find it rather difficult to form a compatible relationship with a Chihuahua person for a long period of time, but that Afghan person might be just the ticket.
Needless to say, there is too little room in this brief article to cover more on this topic, but you get my drift.
If there is a conclusion to be drawn from this brief offering, I believe that it would be that the relationship that exists between man and animal should be held in high regard and treated with respect, for on a deeper, unseen level it goes far beyond friendship.
Susan R. Griffin is co-owner of The Clip Joint and Naturals for Animals in St. Petersburg. She is a certified hypnotherapist and has developed a technique called Pet Energy Therapy. She specializes in the companion animal bond and natural pet care. St. Petersburg, Florida. (813) 327-2356