For Thought: “My Dog ​​is My Best Friend”

Perhaps you also stick to the sentence: “The more I know people, the more I love my dog.” Some people offer ample reasons to choose dogs over other people. One of these reasons is animal abuse. However, it is also true that phrases like “my dog ​​is my best friend “ can lose meaning if we repeat them too often.

Where does the phrase “a dog is a man’s best friend” come from?

Do you know where the saying “a dog is man’s best friend” comes from? Many believe that it is an anonymous idiom that has spread through oral tradition over the years. However, someone actually said this sentence during a trial in Missouri, USA, in 1870.

Attorney George Graham Vest used these words in his closing argument. One person hired him after a neighboring farmer killed his dog, Old Drum. His speech, “Eulogy of the Dog,” contains many of the arguments people use to explain why they consider dogs to be man’s best friend.

The truth is that the attorney was so persuasive with his story that he managed to have the Old Drum killer fined $550 instead of the $150 law stipulated for such an act. A statue of the dog was also erected in front of the Missouri Supreme Court building on which the attorney’s speech can be read.

A friendship that has existed for a very long time

Dogs have been with humans for 40,000 years, as the latest scientific findings seem to prove. A lot of time has passed from the domestication of the first wolves to this day. Humans use and abuse dogs for both noble and despicable activities. The list is long and there is no need to go into it any further here.

One day we discovered that these animals are also great pets. So they became part of our families in a relationship that often makes us say they are our best friends. There are a number of reasons for this. For example:

• Your unconditional loyalty.
• Your constant displays of affection.
• Dogs do not discriminate against us or make fun of us.

• They don’t judge us or question our mistakes.
• They hold no grudge if we treat them badly at times.

The dog as man’s best friend

However, not to contradict but to stimulate thought, we think that saying that a good friend shouldn’t judge or question sounds pretty high-handed. A dog can show us affection even if we know we made a serious mistake. Ideally, however, a loyal and great human friend will help us see what we did wrong and how we can make amends.

Perhaps the fact that dogs hold no grudges has to do with the way a dog remembers things. But that in no way gives us the right to abuse him. What kind of friendship would it be if we allow ourselves to mistreat someone just for not being unforgiving?

Additionally, we shouldn’t forget that while dogs can be good friends, we should never make the mistake of humanizing them. You shouldn’t believe that friendship with a dog can replace human relationships. If we do this, we will not only harm ourselves but also the animal, as much as we say we love it.

The scientific explanation for the loving relationship between humans and dogs

According to the results of various studies, the secret of the close relationship between humans and dogs is said to be a substance called oxytocin.

Commonly known as the “ love hormone ”, oxytocin is present in all mammals and is related to bonding, among other things. It is the substance that is present in the brains of dogs and humans every time they look each other in the eye.

It’s great that your dog is your best non-human friend. But never forget to put George Graham Vest’s famous phrase into practice!