A Goal for Us All

Here I am seated next to a Buddha statue. I appreciate the teachings of Buddha. As a dog, I am comforted that there are many people who respect all other animals as sentient beings, and not merely as things. Buddhism teaches a respect for all forms of life.

Some Connections are Easy

Some connections are easy to make. Here I am with one of my human friends. He and I do a lot together, including napping in the park. Here he is napping and I am watching what is going on up in the tree. In the USA, many people love dogs. He is comfortable enough to sleep and provide me with a soft seat.

Some Connections are Difficult

In South Asia, many people think dogs are filthy and that they are viscious. Some think their religion forbids them from even touching us. We may not be as finicky clean as cats but we are not viscious by nature. After all, we have been domesticated by people. Nor do we bite everything and everyone, otherwise why would so many people make us a part of their families? As far as the religion argument goes, I don't know of any religion that prohibits people from interracting with dogs. If a human could take the time to get to know us, he would find that we are happy to accommodate to human rules such as not putting paws on the couch. Also, there are always some bad apples in a group who bite a lot (as in all species) but otherwise we only bite to defend ourselves. Please don't assume we will automatically bite you! I feel sad when I see people move away from me on the sidewalk. I feel very sad when I hear parents teaching their kids that all dogs bite all the time when they say things like "Stay away or the dog will bite you". I can sense their fear a block away. So every time I see a person in a sari, I think I better steer clear. It's very hard to repair such negative conditioning but we all must try. One of my friends wears saris occasionally so I know not all people in such clothes distrust dogs. Above I am enjoying the compay of a muslim in hijab (modest dress for women) from the Indian sub-continent who doesn't think I'm dirty or banned by God. I have since become friends with many South Asian muslims.

Lots of Religions

There are lots of religions in the world. Here I have some Hindu and Buddhist statues. The two wooden ones are Hindu gods. Hanuman the monkey god on the extreme left and Ganesha the elephant-headed god in the middle. Buddhists have Buddha, here on the extreme right. Buddha is not considered a god but is the founder of the religion called Buddhism. Both these religions are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, also known as South Asia. Many people in this part of the world dislike dogs. There are about 1.3 billion people here. That's a lot of people who don't like dogs! That's when I thought I could try to help these people change their minds about dogs. It sure couldn't hurt.