Man's Best Friend

I can think of no sadder thing than a dog.  They're all stupid loyalty and unabashed adoration rolled up into a package of cute with a big red guilt ribbon tied around their necks.  They cause heartbreak and issue.  And they smell.

Tonight I was at the Bridge Lounge, enjoying a scotch with some work associates, and in walked a man with the most adorable canine ever attached to a string.  It hopped and played and rolled around on the ground.  It ran to people and savored each new smell and experience like a welfare child at the Magic Kingdom. 

  Then the man went to the bathroom, and left the dog with his friends for just a moment.  And the dog mourned.  It stared sadly at the bathroom, waiting for him to return.  It yelped in a pathetic way, and rolled on the ground in agony.  But, the man came back, and the dog became ecstatic.  It jumped up on him and licked his face and leapt into the air and did tricks and was generally the happiest creature in the entire world.

 

Pets are like small children, without the abbreviated reasoning skills.  If left, abandoned, hurt a child will come up with some way to justify this incredible pain.  Dogs (and cats) don't have that luxury.  When caused pain, they just feel an unending sense of sadness.  To be unbearably sad and not be able to reason the emotions away, to put anything into context?  I can't imagine how terrible that must feel.

I can think of no sadder thing than a dog, because they love their owner unconditionally without the ability to understand what that means.  And if there is one thing people do not deserve, it's unconditional love.