BotD with Man’s Best Friend (or Woman’s!)

I will do anything to post pictures of my dog on here.  But there’s a reason:  I was actually terrified of dogs.  My wife and I got Cooper explicitly to help me overcome that fear.

I did most of the raising of Cooper, and through knowing him and his quirks , we have overbonded.  He’s the best, and watching him as a tiny puppy play with full-grown pitbulls without fear of harm, I came to lose that fear.

Powerful Bonds Between People and Pets by P. Elizabeth Anderson explores the psychological relationships people and their companion animals develop and the dependencies within.  Complete with sources for further reading, the science of it all is laid out in a compassionate discussion of what could have easily been drab data.  Even though there are lots of pictures, the information is still captivating enough to exist without them.

I’ve seen grown, grizzled men cry over a cat or dog passing away.  That bond is really there for so many of us, and while no one needs an explanation of why they love, it is most certainly interesting to understand the how and the history.