What Does Your Dog Mean to You?
I really doubt there is just one answer to the question of the meaning of a dog to different persons. We are all different and that is why I believe a fixed answer does not exist. Nevertheless, if I go to a public place like a mall, and start asking everyone I can to give me an answer, I would probably get some common replies.
Company.
If company is what you want from a dog, you will certainly get it. That dog will be there for you whenever you want. It will not just leave you because you did something it did not like. It will not abandon you if you are sick or drunk or behaving badly. That you can leave to humans.
I have seen homeless people living under bridges accompanied by their dogs. Not even in the most difficult circumstances will those incredible animals part with their owners. That is the true meaning of “no matter what” or “until death do us part”.
The important thing to consider here is if that is the only thing you want from a dog and also if you are willing to reciprocate it. Company is something almost every human being needs to feel good about life. We are not born alone and typically spend our existence among other human beings. I say typically, because there are always exceptions to the rule and we know it. But this is not about exceptions. Dogs that are used to living within a family, and family can be to them just one person, get used to the company also. That becomes their pack and their sense of belonging, so company has to be provided to them also.
Loyalty
That is a concept that has a different meaning between humans and dogs. In the human world, loyalty is not necessarily something you can bet on when you meet someone who may become either your friend or your significant other. Even if an unwanted behavior, humans tend not to remain loyal if something either attracts them more or if something has happened that drives them to think “it is not worth it anymore”. On the other hand, dogs do not judge, and if they have an owner who cares for them, they will never, and I mean never, be disloyal to him or her, no matter what.
As in the above point, if you want loyalty, you should also be willing to give it back to your dog and not just pretend to receive it. This is not a one way street.
Protection
In this case, even very small dogs have a sense of protection to their owners. You have probably seen Chihuahuas sitting on their master’s lap barking and growling if someone they don’t know tries to get into what they consider their owners space.
Protection you will get from your dog, even if it has not been trained for it. I have seen, for example, a typically tame dog jump to try and help its owner when it sees him or her in danger, its size and the dangerous circumstances not being of any importance.
This last week precisely I heard in the news about the case of a boxer that was trained to be a guide dog, who was walking with its owner and his small child when a car drove out of control and went straight to them. The dog pushed the child and his father away from the car’s path and did not have time to get away himself, so he died. I believe this is an example of protection, but of indescribable loyalty. This is just one example, of the many thousands around the world, of dogs protecting their owners even to the cost of their lives.
Help
In this particular case I am referring probably to the cases in which there is some sort of disability and your dog has been trained to give you all the help you need to move around and solve all kinds of problems for you. Yes, help is also in the considerations humans use to have a dog.
Meaning is something we give to others and also to things in our lives. It is never the same. You may give much more important meaning to valuable objects than to a relationship and vice versa. Work or money may have the number one important position in your life. It does change from person to person.
When talking about what your dog means to you, you should sit down and think about it very carefully, in order to remember that it is a living thing that needs to be treated the same way you would like to be treated, giving to it the same importance it will always give you.
