Full disclosure: I’m pretty passionate about dogs.
I have five. Luna and Pixie are 5-pound Yorkies who grew up in New York City. Phoenix, a mini Aussie, arrived just before the pandemic lockdown and grew up a bit constrained. They are all good girls. When I moved to a rural community upstate three years ago, my wife and I eventually added two rambunctious border collies, Jax and Skylark, who are good boys.
Don’t get me started. I’m “one of those people.” When dogs come up in conversation, I tend to nerd out with adulating factoids, gesturing my arms with enthusiasm.
Did you know that dogs have learned to read our faces, as we do with each other? Compared with apes, dogs are able to better use social and communication cues from people to find food, according to research. They can learn words, and show signs of humanlike empathy and understanding. New research shows that dog-human relationships carry many of the same upsides as best friends and parent-child bonds.
Dogs learned to understand us long before we learned to understand them.
The special relationship between people and their pets elicits strong reactions, and in this week’s cover story, our contributor Michael Benanav explores a controversy that erupted in Santa Fe, New Mexico, earlier this year. Many concerned residents felt the dogs of homeless people weren’t getting the care they needed, and thought they should be taken away. But for homeless people, their canine companions are a cherished and comforting part of their lives.
The controversy highlighted those who were seeking solutions for everyone concerned. All agree that dogs are sources of stability in lives in which little else is secure – creatures that offer warmth, protection, and faithful companionship when people – those with houses and those without – are confronted with life’s vicissitudes.
Speaking of, have you read the touching ancient Greek and Roman elegies composed for canine companions? There’s this one for a pup named Myia …
