Persons who know me well, or read this column, will know of my admiration and affection for dogs, particularly in the years when I lived in the Cayman Islands on two acres of land in the countryside, with several dogs in the family. Living again in Guyana, and remarried, I have spoken before of the dogs Annette and I have here and how important they are in our lives.
Against that background, I was quite shocked this week to see someone blatantly posting a note on Face-book saying succinctly “Dogs are dumb.” My initial thought was to reply to the person, but I realised that would take considerably more space than a FB reply allows, so I’m going this route instead.
Fundamentally, whoever says “dogs are dumb” is clearly someone who knows nothing about dogs, or has not spent any amount of time with them anywhere. Dogs, indeed, widely known to be “man’s best friend,” are easily the most interactive creatures with us in the animal kingdom and develop powerful links with the people who own them as pets. They become very attached to us, are often exuberant in their affection, and once they form a bond with us, nothing breaks it. Even if the circumstances of our lives separate us from them for any extended time, they recognise us instantly on our return and show their joy almost in a frenzy.
