"The magic of doggy goodness". By Jonah Goldberg, National Review Online.
Here's a little bit -- but you really should read the whole thing. As much of a jerk as this Zorn guy must be, I bet his dog loves him anyhow. I can tell you that my dogs evidence strong feelings of jealousy and sometimes depression, and I've seen them act abashed and embarrassed when they do something silly and we laugh -- and is there anything, anywhere more down-deep joyous than a dog whose people are throwing a ball or a frisbee?
Dogs let us love them.
Eric Zorn, a writer for the Chicago Tribune, recently mocked a local woman, Jess Craigie, who dove into near-freezing waters to save her dog from drowning. Zorn wrote, “Note to Jess Craigie: Your dog still doesn’t love you.”
Zorn’s source for this dog slander is Jon Katz, who despite his name has written mostly wonderful stuff about dogs. Zorn uses an unfortunate quote from Katz to peddle the fashionable notion that dogs are, in the words of science writer Stephen Budiansky and others, “social parasites.” According to this theory, canines are evolutionary grifters that have fooled humans into believing they are our friends....Indeed, if embracing modernity means I have to accept such unlovely idiocy, count me out. I’ll be elsewhere. If you need me, just follow the sound of the barking.
