Time Out for Best Friends

 Ah, Immanuel Kant,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant one of my favorite philosophers whose works I haven't read but whose words make for great quotes as in: "We can judge the heart of a man according to his love of animals." Perhaps he was considering the fact that animals are dumb and at the mercy of humans and any human who mistreated innocent animals could not be trusted when it came to human affairs, or maybe he just loved the way sunlight glistened off his goldfishes' scales. In any event, I do believe that as part of God's great creation, all animals are at the mercy of man and as such deserve our compassion. This is not to eliminate a good steak from the menu; just slaughter the fatted calf in as merciful way as possible.
As for the more domesticated animals like dogs and cats, let's make the most of their willingness to trust us and practice patience and generosity with them. Who knows, perhaps if we develop good habits with our pets those good habits will spread to our relationships with other humans.
Personally, I am a dog person, and not just because that's my Chinese astrological sign or because I smell everything before I eat it. There's just something about dogs.

"The dog knows but doesn't know that he knows." Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Teilhard_de_Chardin    
That frog, I should say Frenchman, knew what he was talking about, at least when it came to dogs.
I don't know and don't know that I don't know.
Looking into the eyes of a dog one grasps the truth of de Chardin's observation. One can only hope in an afterlife where we are reunited with our pets and in the eternal ether of all knowing finally get to know one another and know that we know.
My head spins...My dogs Max and Augie are sometimes the cause of that spinning. But, more often than not they are a happy presence in my life and a reminder that all is not going to hell in a hand-basket. They look to me to quench their thirst and quiet their stomach's rumblings and provide a warm bed away from the lightening and thunder. When they hurt or are confused in fearful dread of that which they do not comprehend they come to me and lift a paw for consolation.
Maybe Albert said it best. "It doesn't matter if an animal can reason. It matters only that it can suffer and that is why I consider it my neighbor.
Albert, of course, is Albert Schweitzer, one of my favorite humans of all time.

 See http://www.albertschweitzer.info/ for more info on this remarkable man. And don't miss his autobiography. It is a worthwhile reading experience. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/out-of-my-life-and-thought-albert-schweitzer/1100423191?ean=9780801894121&itm=2&usri=albert+schweitzer

Little Augie is crying for his afternoon snack and Max is bouncing around in anticipation of his share and maybe, just maybe, he does know that he knows and ...
I have to go for now.