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I've owned a lot of dogs in my life - Marcela, Rusty, Petey Pup, Precious, Rosy and Ava. Each were in love with life's simple pleasures, but being people in dog suits, as they seem to be, they each had a defined personality!

Early experiences convinced me that animals can and do have quite distinct personalities.

When the dog looks at you, the dog is not thinking what kind of a person you are. The dog is not judging you.

Personality is less a finished product than a transitive process. While it has some stable features, it is at the same time continually undergoing change.

Many of the qualities that come so effortlessly to dogs - loyalty, devotion, selflessness, unflagging optimism, unqualified love - can be elusive to humans.

When dogs fulfill their roles they are ecstatically happy.

There is no evidence that dogs have the kind of complex emotional lives and value systems that we do. It's one reason why we love them so much, in fact. They are neither "good" nor "bad." They don't hold grudges, act in petty ways, or seek revenge. They read our moods, but not our minds.

You can tell by the kindness of a dog how a human should be.

Anyone who has a dog knows that they have some very deep thoughts, that they have moods and emotions, they get their feelings hurt. It's not a far reach to give them opinions and values and long-term desires.