Elsabella & Beignet The Kissing Maltese (Click to enlarge)
If the roles were reversed and our domestic animals were higher on the food chain and kept us as pets, the internal bickering would be relentless.. Hair would fly and blood would flow. Once we get past the obvious hilarity of the premise, “No, Paula, you chase the ball first, then put it in your mouth and run around with it. You don’t need a glove, dear”, or “That’s not nice, Paula, sniff his butt first, then you can play”, perhaps we could think about what we ask our companion animals to do. In the wild they would choose each other. Not that flying fur and blood wouldn’t happen during the selection process, but humans do that too. When we ask domestic animals to live in our world, we remove their choices and impose ours. If the role reversal happened in some Freaky Friday scenario, would they choose us for our beauty? Our intelligence? Perhaps the natural selection would be based upon our ability to get along with others. Not since kindergarten have we been judged using that criteria.
Non Sequitur (Click to enlarge)
Have you ever thought, I just don’t trust that person, dogs don’t like him? You know you have. On some level most of us look to our dogs for some judgment about people, because…well, we may not be so good at it. Witness today’s Non Sequitur cartoon. I’m not the only one to be rolling this thought around.
In the studio, I am surprised by how many tender moments dogs share with us. Elsabella and Beignet’s mom tells us these non-blood-related house mates adore one another. I’m amazed by how well most of our animal families manage to find a balance, even though they did not pick each other. It’s like arranged marriage, with no divorce option. Oh yes, some of us live with the perpetual baby gates because someone in the household just can’t seem to get along, but it’s usually because of something we did or didn’t do. They’re born with this ability to love the one they’re with. Though Steven Stills had a more promiscuous situation in mind, doesn’t it really mean, just love? Wouldn’t our world be a far better place if dogs ruled?
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