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Dogs make life richer and more worthwhile

• If you don’t own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life. Roger Caras
• Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. Roger Caras
• Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day. It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them. John Grogan
• People love dogs. You can never go wrong adding a dog to the story. Jim Butcher
• A person who has never owned a dog has missed a wonderful part of life. Bob Barker
• Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace. Milan Kundera
• Cats,  Animals

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Dogs are great for our happiness and mental well-being…

• There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. Ben Williams
• Happiness is a warm puppy. Charles M. Schulz
• Petting, scratching, and cuddling a dog could be as soothing to the mind and heart as deep meditation and almost as good for the as prayer. Dean Koontz
• Whoever said you can’t buy happiness forgot little puppies. Gene Hill
• Happiness,  Well-being,  Health

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…especially when we feel sad or troubled

• One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you’re feeling blue is that he doesn’t try to find out why.
• His ears were often the first thing to catch my tears. Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent devoted companionship of a dog that you can get from no other source. Doris Day
• Perhaps one central reason for loving dogs is that they take us away from this obsession with ourselves. When our thoughts start to go in circles, and we seem unable to break away, wondering what horrible event the future holds for us, the dog opens a window into the delight of the moment. Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
• It takes me a long time to lose my temper, but once lost I could not find it with a dog. Mark Twain
• Sadness

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In fact, having a dog can make us live longer

• Rebecca Johnson, a professor of gerontological nursing at the University of Missouri at Columbia, showed that interaction with pets reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol. The ability of companion pets to reduce our overall stress level probably accounts for most of their life-extending qualities. Vanessa Gisquet
• One of the first studies in this arena, which appeared in Public Health Reports in 1980, showed that the survival rates of heart attack victims who had a pet were 28 percent higher than those of patients who didn’t have an animal companion. Vanessa Gisquet
• Health

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Dogs are good for our souls…

• People leave imprints on our lives, shaping who we become in much the same way that a symbol is pressed into the page of a book to tell you who it comes from. Dogs, however, leave paw prints on our lives and our souls, which are as unique as fingerprints in every way. Ashly Lorenzana
• Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened. Anatole France
• The soul

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… and who can doubt that they don’t have souls of their own

• Slowly, Anna put up a hand to his muzzle and began to scratch that spot behind the ear where large dogs keep their souls. Eva Ibbotson
• I have always felt it was human arrogance that assumes that only people have souls. Anne Raver
• If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. James Herriot
• I also suspect that we cherish dogs because their unblemished souls make us wish – consciously or unconsciously – that we were as innocent as they are, and make us yearn for a place where innocence is universal. Dean Koontz
• Shall we, because we walk on our hind feet, assume to ourselves only the privilege of imperishability? George Eliot

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Dogs show us what real, unconditional love is

• A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. Josh Billings
• The only creatures that are evolved enough to convey pure love are dogs and infants. Johnny Depp
• I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.  Gilda Radner
• The little furry buggers are just deep, deep wells you throw all your emotions into. Bruce Schimmel
• Unconditional love

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Your dog will always be your most constant friend

• My dear old dog, most constant of all friends. William Croswell Doane
• Dogs are, after all, man’s best friend. The least we can do is try to understand them a little better. Nicholas Dodman
• Agreeable friends—they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms. George Eliot
• The poor dog, in life the firmest friend, “The first to welcome, foremost to defend.” Lord Byron
• One of the most enduring friendships in history—dogs and their people, people and their dogs. Terry Kay
• Everyone needs a spiritual guide: a minister, rabbi, counselor, wise friend, or therapist. My own wise friend is my dog. Gary Kowalski
• No animal I know of can consistently be more of a friend and companion than a dog. Stanley Leinwoll
• Thorns may hurt you, men desert you, sunlight turn to fog; but you’re never friendless ever, if you have a dog. Douglas Mallock
• He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
• My little dog – a heartbeat at my feet. Edith Wharton
• With the exception of women, there is nothing on earth so agreeable or necessary to the comfort of man as the dog. Edward Jesse
• Friendship

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Dogs have much to teach us

• A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things-  a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty.  John Grogan
• A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down. Robert Benchley
• Everything I know, I learned from dogs. Nora Roberts
• If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend, If you can face the world without lies and deceit, If you can say honestly that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, colour, religion or politics, Then, my friend, you are almost as good as your dog.
• My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.
• Learning,  Teaching

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There is no joy like taking a dog for a walk

• A dog is one of the remaining reasons why some people can be persuaded to go for a walk. A. Battista
• Every day, the dog and I, we go for a tramp in the woods. And he loves it! Mind you, the tramp is getting a bit fed up.  Jerry Dennis
• If your dog is fat, you’re not getting enough exercise.
• Ever wonder where you’d end up if you took your dog for a walk and never once pulled back on the leash? Robert Brault
• Walking,  Joy

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No-one listens like a dog

• One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you’re feeling blue is that he doesn’t try to find out why.
• No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does. Christopher Morley
• They never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself, and keep up an appearance of being interested in the conversation. Jerome K. Jerome
• Talking to dogs is one of the few acts of faith still made nowadays.  Paul Jennings
• Listening

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Maybe it’s good that dogs can’t talk

• If dogs could talk, it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one. Andy Rooney
• If dogs could talk, perhaps we would find it as hard to get along with them as we do with people. Karel Capek
• It’s no coincidence that man’s best friend cannot talk.
• The best thing about animals is that they don’t talk much. Thornton Wilder

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Nothing expresses itself like a dog

• Dogs laugh, but they laugh with their tails. Max Eastman
• A dog can express more with his tail in seconds than his owner can express with his tongue in hours.
• You can say any fool thing to a dog and the dog will just give you this look that says, ‘My GOSH, you’re RIGHT! I NEVER would’ve thought of that! Dave Barry
• I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross and concentrating. Also, dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies because they cannot talk. Mark Haddon
• Man himself cannot express love and humility by external signs, so plainly as does a dog, when with drooping ears, hanging lips, flexuous body, and wagging tail, he meets his beloved master. Charles Darwin
• The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog. Ambrose Bierce
• In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag. H. Auden
• After years of having a dog, you know him. You know the meaning of his snuffs and grunts and barks. Every twitch of the ears is a question or statement, every wag of the tail is an exclamation. Robert R. McCammon

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More wonderful qualities of dogs

• The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.
• Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made. Roger Caras
• No matter how close we are to another person, few human relationships are as free from strife, disagreement, and frustration as is the relationship you have with a good dog. Few human beings give of themselves to another as a dog gives of itself. I also suspect that we cherish dogs because their unblemished souls make us wish – consciously or unconsciously – that we were as innocent as they are, and make us yearn for a place where innocence is universal and where the meanness, the betrayals, and the cruelties of this world are unknown. Dean Koontz
• To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs. Aldous Huxley
• The dog’s agenda is simple, fathomable, overt: I want. “I want to go out, come in, eat something, lie here, play with that, kiss you. There are no ulterior motives with a dog, no mind games, no second- guessing, no complicated negotiations or bargains, and no guilt trips or grudges if a request is denied. Caroline Knapp
• Dogs are minor angels, and I don’t mean that facetiously. They love unconditionally, forgive immediately, are the truest of friends, willing to do anything that makes us happy, etcetera. If we attributed some of those qualities to a person we would say they are special. If they had ALL of them, we would call them angelic. But because it’s “only” a dog, we dismiss them as sweet or funny but little more. However, when you think about it, what are the things that we most like in another human being? Many times those qualities are seen in our dogs every single day– we’re just so used to them that we pay no attention. Jonathan Carroll
• There is no faith which has never yet been broken, except that of a truly faithful dog. Konrad Lorenz
• Dogs are my favorite role models. I want to work like a dog, doing what I was born to do with joy and purpose. I want to play like a dog, with total, jolly abandon. I want to love like a dog, with unabashed devotion and complete lack of concern about what people do for a living, how much money they have, or how much they weigh. The fact that we still live with dogs, even when we don’t have to herd or hunt our dinner, gives me hope for humans and canines alike. Oprah Winfrey

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Why can’t people be more like dogs?

• It’s just the most amazing thing to love a dog, isn’t it? It makes our relationships with people seem as boring as a bowl of oatmeal. John Grogan
• If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and man. Mark Twain
• Dogs never bite me. Just humans. Marilyn Monroe
• The more boys I meet the more I love my dog. Carrie Underwood
• The average dog is a nicer person than the average person. Andy Rooney
• The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs. Charles de Gaulle
• All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. For after all, he was only human. He wasn’t a dog. Charles M. Schulz
• I believe in integrity. Dogs have it. Humans are sometimes lacking it. Cesar Millan
• Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. Alfred A. Montapert
• Why can’t a woman be more like a dog, huh? So sweet, loving, attentive. Kirk Douglas

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Dogs have us well trained

• Every dog should have a man of his own. There is nothing like a well-behaved person around the house to spread the dog’s blanket for him, or bring him his supper when he comes home man-tired at night. Corey Ford
• Properly trained, a man can be dog’s best friend. Corey Ford
• A dog is an intelligent four footed animal who walks around with some dope on the end of a leash.
• Dogs are animals that poop in public and you’re supposed to pick it up. After a week of doing this, you’ve got to ask yourself, “Who’s the real master in this relationship?” Anthony Griffin
• Most owners are at length able to teach themselves to obey their dog. Robert Morley
• Dogs are the leaders of the planet. If you see two life forms, one of them’s making a poop, the other one’s carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge? Jerry Seinfeld

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Dogs’ lives are far too short…

• Dogs, lives are short, too short, but you know that going in. You know the pain is coming, you’re going to lose a dog, and there’s going to be great anguish, so you live fully in the moment with her, never fail to share her joy or delight in her innocence, because you can’t support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There’s such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware that it comes with an unbearable price. Maybe loving dogs is a way we do penance for all the other illusions we allow ourselves and the mistakes we make because of those illusions. Dean Koontz
• . . . owning a dog always ended with this sadness because dogs just don’t live as long as people do. John Grogan
• Dogs’ lives are too short. Their only fault, really. Agnes Sligh Turnbull
• I once heard a woman who had lost her dog say that she felt as though a color were suddenly missing from her world: the dog had introduced to her field of vision some previously unavailable hue and without a dog, that color was gone. That seemed to capture the experience of loving a dog with eminent simplicity. I’d amend it only slightly and say that if we are open to what they have to give, dogs can introduce us to several colors with names like wildness, nurturance, trust and joy. Carolyn Knapp
• In his grief over the loss of a dog, a little boy stands for the first time on tiptoe, peering into the rueful morrow of manhood. After this most inconsolable of sorrows there is nothing life can do to him that he will not be able somehow to bear. James Thurber
• If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness. Marjorie Garber
• A good dog never dies. He always stays. He walks besides you on crisp autumn days when frost is on the fields and winter’s drawing near. His head is within our hand in his old way. Mary Carolyn Davies

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…but at least we know that all dogs go to heaven

• The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven not man’s. Mark Twain
• You think those dogs will not be in heaven! I tell you they will be there long before any of us. Robert Louis Stevenson
• Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. Mark Twain
• If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. Will Rogers
• If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons. James Thurber
• If there is a heaven, it’s certain our animals are to be there. Their lives become so interwoven with our own, it would take more than an archangel to detangle them. Pam Brown
• Heaven

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Dogs or children?

• We’ve begun to long for the pitter-patter of little feet—so we bought a dog. Well, it’s cheaper, and you get more feet. Rita Rudner
• My husband and I are either going to buy a dog or have a child. We can’t decide whether to ruin our carpets or ruin our lives. Rita Rudner
• Children are for people who can’t have dogs.

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Childhood is impoverished without a dog

• The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother – and they’ll settle for a puppy every time. Winston Pendelton
• A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down. Robert Benchley
• Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one.
• The dog was created especially for children. He is the god of frolic. Henry Ward Beecher
• Dachshunds are ideal dogs for small children, as they are already stretched and pulled to such a length that the child cannot do much harm one way or the other. Robert Benchley
• The ideal age for a boy to own a dog is between forty-five and fifty. Robert Benchley
• Give a boy a dog and you’ve furnished him a playmate. Berton Braley
• Many who have spent a lifetime in it can tell us less of love than the child that lost a dog yesterday. Thornton Wilder
• No symphony orchestra ever played music like a two-year-old girl laughing with a puppy. Bern Williams
• Every puppy should have a boy. Erma Bombeck
• Childhood

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It takes a dog to make a home

• For me a house or an apartment becomes a home when you add one set of four legs, a happy tail, and that indescribable measure of love that we call a dog. Roger Caras
• A house is not a home until it has a dog. Gerald Durrell
• Home

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Dogs and religion

• Dogs are miracles with paws. Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy
• I care not for a man’s religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it. Abraham Lincoln
• When a dog barks at the moon, then it is religion; but when he barks at strangers, it is patriotism! David Starr Jordan
• The dog is mentioned in the Bible eighteen times—the cat not even once. E. Farbstein
• I always like a dog so long as he isn’t spelled backward. K. Chesterton
• God Made the earth, the sky and the water, the moon and the sun. He made man and bird and beast. But He didn’t make the dog. He already had one. Native American saying
• Our German forefathers had a very kind religion. They believed that, after death, they would meet again all the good dogs that had been their companions in life. I wish I could believe that too. Otto von Bismarck
• Religion

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Dogs and self esteem

• Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful. Ann Landers
• To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs. Aldous Huxley
• If your dog thinks you’re the greatest person in the world, don’t seek a second opinion. Jim Fiebig
• Oh lord, please make me into the man my dog thinks I am.
• If you get to thinking you’re a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around. Will Rogers
• Self-esteem

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Thoughts on specific breeds

• The pug is living proof that God has a sense of humor. Margo Kaufman
• A dachshund is a little dog, half a dog high and a dog and a half tall.  Mary Ellen Herbert
• I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult. Rita Rudner
• Fox-terriers are born with about four times as much original sin in them as other dogs. Jerome K. Jerome
• Labradors are lousy watchdogs. They usually bark when there is a stranger about, but it is an expression of unmitigated joy at the chance to meet somebody new, not a warning.  Norman Strung
• Bulldogs are adorable, with faces like toads that have been sat on. Colette
• I like a bit of mongrel myself, whether it’s a man or a dog; they’re the best for everyday. George Bernard Shaw
• If you can’t decide between a Shepherd, a Setter or a Poodle, get them all … adopt a mutt!  ASPCA
• In the dog-eat-dog economy, the Doberman is boss. Edward Abbey
• I have a great dog. She’s half Lab, half pit bull. A good combination. Sure, she might bite off my leg, but she’ll bring it back to me. Jimi Celeste

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Animal lovers are a good breed of people

• Animal lovers are a special breed of humans, generous of spirit, full of empathy, perhaps a little prone to sentimentality, and with hearts as big as a cloudless sky. John Grogan
• Dog lovers are a good breed themselves. Gladys Taber

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• A dog thinks you are the greatest, coolest, smartest, most successful person in the world. Get a dog and work hard to live up to its expectations. Brian Johnson
• A dog thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me… They must be Gods! A cat thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me… I must be a God!
• Amount of time it takes for a dog to “do its business” is directly proportional to outside temperature plus the suitability of owner’s outerwear. Betsy Cañas Garmon
• Anybody who doesn’t know what soap tastes like never washed a dog. Franklin P. Jones
• Buy Woof, the pet food dogs ask for by name
• Dachshund: A little dog, half a dog high and a dog and a half tall.
• Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac who stays up all night wondering if there really is a Dog?
• Diplomacy: the art of saying “nice doggie” till you can find a rock.   Wyn Catlin
• A boy can learn a lot from a dog: obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down. Robert Benchley
• Dog: An intelligent four-footed animal who walks around with some dope on the end of a leash.
• A dog’s philosophy: If you can’t shag it or eat it, then piss on it.
• Don’t make the mistake of treating your dogs like humans, or they’ll treat you like dogs. Martha Scott
• Ever wonder where you’d end up if you took your dog for a walk and never once pulled back on the leash?
• I am not your dog, but if every time you saw me, you gave me a backrub, I would run to greet you, too. Robert Brault
• I poured Spot remover on my dog. Now he’s gone.
• I want to be the person my dog thinks I am.
• I wonder what goes through his mind when he sees us peeing in his water bowl. Penny Ward Moser
• If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.  Will Rogers
• If you can look at a dog and not feel vicarious excitement and affection, you must be a cat.
• If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then giving Fido only two of them. Phil Pastoret
• It’s just the most amazing thing to love a dog, isn’t it? It makes our relationships with people seem as boring as a bowl of oatmeal. John Grogan
• It’s tough to stay married. My wife kisses the dog on the lips, yet she won’t drink from my glass. Rodney Dangerfield
• Just give me a comfortable couch, a dog, a good book, and a woman. Then if you can get the dog to go somewhere and read the book, I might have a little fun. Groucho Marx
• My dog can lick anyone!
• My housemate gave my dog flees.
• Never say anything uncomplimentary about another person’s dog. Jackson Brown Jr.
• Oh lord, please make me into the man my dog thinks I am.
• Outside a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. Groucho Marx
• Scratch a dog and you’ll find a permanent job. Franklin P. Jones
• Sometimes you’re sure dogs have some secret, superior intelligence, and other times you know they’re only their simple, goofy selves. Deb Caletti
• They say a reasonable number of fleas is good for a dog – keeps him from brooding over being a dog. Edward Nogs Westcroft
• Dogs are forever in the push-up position. Mitch Hedberg
• To err is human—to forgive, canine.
• Watching a baby being born is a little like watching a wet St. Bernard coming in through the cat door. Jeff Foxworthy
• What do dogs do on their day off? Can’t lie around – that’s their job!  George Carlin
• What has four legs and an arm? A happy pit bull.
• Why do dogs lick their balls? Because they can.
• You always sympathize with the underdog, except when the other dog is yours.
• If your dog is barking at the back door and your wife is yelling at the front door, who do you let in first? The dog, of course. He’ll shut up once you let him in.
• A young woman stepped forward from the throng and asked, ‘O’ great prophet, tell us how we might find love that is unconditional, unwavering, and unending.’ The prophet did not answer right away.  He looked off into the distance, gathering his thoughts.  Silence descended upon the crowd.  Then he turned his gaze upon the young woman and said, ‘Get a dog.’  The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran (1st draft)

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