loyalty

.... yeah loyalty! It's hard to beat a dog's loyalty! Really!

Tonight I watched "Eight Below" (great movie by the way) with Melissa. Impressive!

It makes you realize how dogs "feel". While dogs were not the main characters of the movie, they were an integral part of the story. You really feel like one of the pack. The director and actors did an awesome job relaying how much a team of dogs is not so much a unit, but a collection of individuals that actually give a damn about one another.

In the society we live in, this premise can easily be forgotten or set aside. We get busy, we have obligations (whether they are where we need to be or not, we have perceived obligations), life goes on and we get so caught up in our self-serving, self-centered/focused lives ... that we lose sight of the big picture.

It's hard to do everything alone. Yeah, okay, *some* things are easier to tackle than others but as a socially driven species we still need to help one another now and then. This movie tugs at that very premise; but from an obtuse angle.

Dogs get it! They really do! Undying love; this is what dogs have that we do not.

We, as humans, are conditional; everything comes with an asterisk. We come home from work mad at .... who knows? It doesn't matter, you get home, your dog is tickled that ... you're home! You are frustrated with some aspect(s) of your day and fail to acknowledge him/her ... yet he/she is happy that part of the pack has come home.

Dogs "feel" more camaraderie, and, more self-preservation for the most part, than humans do. It's amazing how much a dog will sacrifice.

Maybe I have been hardened/de-sensitized, but I have seen too much human behavior that does not represent this quality on a case-by-case basis. There are some good people out there, sure!, but on the whole, we, as a species, are nowhere near what a canine is!

Funny we consider ourselves to be "above" animals, but don't hesitate to call a dog an animal. Movies like this make you think it's the other way around. "Eight Below" is a great flick that exemplifies a canine's demeanor, and makes me wish I were as good as a canine.

(caveat -- yes i watched the movie. i KNOW that there is a human element and applaud that representation, but there is nothing like pack mentality as opposed to the sheeple we have become)