to the dogs ...

I admire canine, equine, and cetacea. While it is difficult to hang around cetacea, and equine don't seem to return my admiration (a story in and of itself), my favorite of these animals is the dog family as they are such friends and less expensive too! In my youth I read of Flipper, horses such as Black Beauty, and Jack London books and those on other dogs like the Lassies, Sounder, The Incredible Journey, Old Yeller, etc. As an aside, the eldest told me these animals didn't possess the ability to have the thought patterns portrayed in these stories - what is wrong with her? How did I not raise her right?

Wonderful true stories of the canines saving people often occur and I heard one today on CNN Headline News - Kaloipe, the black labrador rose to the occasion in Fresno (I wonder if she is acquainted with the husband's Ziporrah). Kaliope, trained to help her own owner, insisted upon taking her owner to a neighbor who was in need of help, thus saving their life.

These brave furry friends often exhibit such valor, even just recently

• in China a man's dog saves him from the gas engulfing his home by waking him.
• Bangor, a labrador setter wakes a man in his tailer where a fire started.
• in Boston, a terrier mix saves a 91-year old by him from the danger of a malfunctioning furnace.

When not bred to be otherwise, dogs are such selfless companions. Now, while my staffordshire beagle Chloe, and the husband's black lab have failed to exhibit such ultra redeeming valor, they are delightful, entertaining, lovable, companionable family members - as if we didn't have enough in residence here.

My commuter co-pilot shared that her Sam sniffed out his own Christmas present and was well in the process of enjoying it, leaving the other gifts undisturbed, when she got home. That might not be selfless, but gets high ratings for cute!

Here's to our canine companions!