More and more throughout the world, dogs are being recognized for their inspirational, therapeutic qualities, helping lonely, traumatized, or physically challenged people.
Dogs are sometimes particularly wonderful in helping a child to adjust after a traumatic loss.
"Seeing Eye" dogs often become, not only their owners "eyes", but also their very best friends.
Many homes for elderly persons find that when volunteers bring a dog for residents to pet, that residents appear to become much more happy and relaxed.
Petting a dog seems to give not only comfort to residents, but also a great sense of joy.
This appears to be true especially with people suffering from dementia and anxiety.
It may be because on some deep level they are reliving some happier childhood memories when they pet a dog or perhaps it is, as Deepak Chopra tells us, that when transferring love to "another" we experience true joy and happiness.
A dog, perhaps of all animals, is so easy to love.
There is within a dog an incredible capacity for giving love.
A dog always greets its' loving owners with a wagging tail and is always happy "fetching" a thrown ball or performing tricks it has been taught.
A dog's capacity for giving love is truly inspirational.
Puppies can be such delightful creatures.
They appear, like children, to have such an avid curiosity and an endless zest for playing.
They can easily be enticed to run after a ball and for those with long tails, watching their antics as they chase their tales leads a new meaning to the word hilarious.
Puppies can, however be very hard work and if you are thinking of bringing one of these little creatures into your home beware!! Puppies love to chew and gnaw on shoes, table and chair legs, plastic containers and even underwear!! They also, for the first few months, seem unable to hold their puppy bowel and bladder accumulations and there will be numerous "accidents" for their owners to clean up.
These "accidents" are just part of puppy-hood, just like crying in the middle of the night is part of babyhood.
There are a number of great training books written for dog owners, and for kind, patient, loving caregivers the problems will, with gentle but firm training, disappear within a short time.
Older more mature dogs of any breed can make wonderful watch dogs.
Dogs love to bark and that makes them the world's best and cheapest "burglar alarm".
A survey done in the UK found that 85% of households that had dogs never got burgled.
However many of us do find it very irritating when, knocking on a friend's door, we are greeted with loud barking from the family dog.
It might help to remember that this dog is just protecting your friend's home from all strangers.
Perhaps you are thinking "But I am not a stranger, I go there often and always end up petting the dog.
Wouldn't you think he would know me by now?" Of course it is a pity that Rover does not recognize you, but that's his job, to vet everyone, every time just like the security personnel at the airport.
There are many inspirational stories of dogs saving their owners and sometimes even strangers, from assaults, fires and dangerous situations.
The world has truly become a more inspirational place for those of us who have experienced the friendship of a dog.