Life – a user's manual Part II - Boksidan

Though in addition to the drawbacks mentioned by respondents (table 4), I have listed further disadvantages
with dogs:
1. They are more expensive in everything from purchasing, commissioning to feed and veterinary
care/insurance and finally cremation.
2. Many dogs disturb neighbors and/or the environment by constantly barking at everything and everyone.
3. Dogs smell bad when they are wet.
4. They makes the house untidy, as they shake hair and dirt out of the coat.
5. They require extensive fostering to function as desired.
Thus, dogsought to have someone/some very strong advantages compared to cats. One advantage
highlighted in literature where dogs are involved is that they give love, see the following quote from The
psychology of love by Natahaniel Branden (translated from English to Swedish and the back again):
"The next event that was so crucial for my thinking occurred one afternoon a few months later when I sat on
the floor and played with my dog, a Fox Terrier named Muttnik.
We shoved aside and playfully punched each other. I was fascinated that Muttnik as much seemed to
understand that my intentions were playful. She growled and stabbed and fought back but was always so soft
in her movements that one could clearly see the total fearlessness. The incident was not unusual and most
dog owners know it. But suddenly I was struck by a thought: I asked a question to myself that I never asked:
Why do I have so much fun What is it that gives rise to my joy
I realized that my reaction was partly due to the joy I got from considering the healthy self-confidence of a
living creature. But it was not there in the first place. It was rather the interaction between the dog and
myself, the feeling of interacting and communicating with a living consciousness.
If I thought of Muttnik as an automaton without consciousness and perceived her actions and reactions
exclusively mechanical, my joy went away. It was the consciousness that was the important factor.
Then I thought again about how it would feel if I was stranded on a deserted island where Muttniks presence
would have a tremendous impact on me, not because she would mean much for my physical overliving, but
since she would give me a kind of camaraderie. She would be a conscious being who I could interact and
communicate with - just like I did now. But why is this valuable
With increasing excitement, I realized that the answer to this question would explain a lot more than
affection for a pet. 1 this question was also the psychological principle underlying our longing for human
company - the principle which would explain why a conscious being looking up and appreciate other
conscious beings, why consciousness value another consciousness.”
Perhaps this text explains the point of getting a dog and possibly it apply to some extent, even on cats, but
not animals that to a small extent interact with humans, such as rabbits and to an even lower degree:
aquarium fish.
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