Dogs are the only pets that look like they are smiling.

Maybe they sense somehow that we've given them the honorable title of "man's best friend."

They scamper up to us the minute we walk in the door, even when we are total strangers who just happen to be visiting their owner. They jump on us and greet us with such excitement that they almost knock us down. Like their owner, they also want us to feel welcome in their home so that we will return.

Sure, it may be a pain that we need to remember to walk them every day and scoop up their poop, especially in freezing cold weather. But at least that gives us an opportunity to get some exercise ourselves! At the same time, we get the chance to spend some quality bonding time with our pooch.

Bathing our dog may be a chore, but at least he tries to have some fun with us when he shakes his body and splashes the soapy water all over us. Maybe that's his way of saying, "Lighten up! It's not like you have to bathe me every day."

Don't our dogs always sit by our favorite chair in the living room, as long as we are sitting in it? They want to keep us company, so if he had a hard day or we're feeling blue, we know that they are always there for us.

If we teasingly call our dog a bad name, he lowers his head in shame. He has feelings just like we do.

Dogs represent the playful side of us. That is why we relate to them. They bring out the kid in us, and they help to keep us young at heart.

They like being of assistance to us and gaining our approval and respect.

They also like being rewarded for a job well done, just like we do.

Dogs are us when we are at our best--when we are friendly, outgoing, and dependable.

Yes, we can train them to sit and fetch, but that's not what makes them so loveable.

Dogs want us to think as highly of them as we do of our human friends.

And we do.