Man's Best Friend

The dog has been man's best friend for thousands of years. Dogs are friendly, obedient and faithful animals. King Edward VII of England had a pet terrier named Caesar. When the king died in 1910, Caesar led the funeral procession, walking before kings and princes. After the famous composer Mozart had died, only one living creature followed his coffin to the grave. It was his faithful dog.

Many stories are told of the bravery and faithfulness of dogs. It is the village of Bethgelert (which means "grave of Gelert") in North Wales. According to the story that has been told in the village for many centuries, Gelert was a hunting dog belonging to Llewellyn, the great lord of the region. One morning, when Llewellyn wanted to go hunting, he could not find Gelert and set off without him. On his return from the hunt, Llewellyn found Gelert covered with blood. Llewellyn's baby was not in its bed and the bed itself was in disorder. Thinking that the dog had eaten the child, Llewellyn killed Gelert with his sword. The noise awoke the baby, who had been asleep under a heap of bed coverings. The father heard his child's cry, and found him there, safe and sound. Under the bed was found a great wolf, killed by Gelert. The faithful dog had saved the life of his master's child, and lost his own because of a tragic misunderstanding.

Dogs are intelligent animals, so it is easy to train them. A dog named Barry rescued 40 persons when they were lost in the snow on the Saint Bernard Pass in Switzerland about 150 years ago.

Dogs can hear and smell better than men, but they cannot see so well. You may be surprised to learn that dogs are color-blind. A dog sees objects first by their movement, second by their brightness, and third by their shape. A dog lives on average for about 12 or 13 years. A puppy aged six months compares in age with a child six years old. A thirteen-year-old child is not yet grown up, but a thirteen-year-old dog is a very old dog indeed.