We live in a world that is built upon natural law, yet it is also touched by supernatural mysteries which may baffle man but remain both accepted and understood by the dog.

As science struggles to explain both man and dog in regards to their first step upon the earth, we see that both began this journey together. Even though Darwin's theory is being found to be just that a "Theory" some are having trouble releasing the dog from wolf theory. New findings dictate that the dog must have evolved from a wolf in a single lifetime or less. I think that science fears the fact that the dog, as man, walked out of Eden into a world of uncertainty and danger. We must look closely at the simplistic facts which stand as the truth.

The dog is the only creature which bonds with man. It gives man the use of all of its natural abilities and holds the unique ability to not only communicate with us but to make us aware of those things both natural and supernatural. It seems that we humans have the need to complicate the most simplistic of relationships by refusing to see that the dog bonds to us because we are human and we to him because he is a dog. This I suppose is a supernatural instinct in both creatures to have this unseen bond and understanding for one another.

Man tries to complicate the situation by bringing in phrases like "Alpha" figure to give this most beautiful of bonds a lesser rite or place in our journeys. The dog does not seek out or follow an "Alpha" dog if in fact there is such a creature. The dog follows, serves and seeks out man simply because we are man. There is something very profound in that statement. All other creatures either shun or simply tolerate us and this one creature is drawn to us.

What, one might ask, is this unseen force which repels all but one creature? It is this question which opens the doors to many others and gives us a glimpse at the majesty of our journey. We who profess to know so much really understand so little and perhaps that misunderstanding is felt by our one companion more than any other as we judge and misjudge the dog.

We poor ignorant creatures have outlawed breeds, provided inherent sickness and genetic weaknesses to a special life source which seeks only to serve and to comfort us. For me the dog has been a friend and a guardian on lonely dark nights against poor weather and poorer odds. Yet as to understanding this faithful, selfless creature I have learned that I must also understand my own kind, for we two are tightly woven into the fabric which fate wears for its cloak.

From myth one can draw truth, from ignorance one can only draw false conclusions. Conclusions which once accepted as truth can and will plunge us deeper into the darkness of which ignorance remains lord. Thus, upon this journey we must seek to understand and to accept even those things which at first may seem to defy all of our understanding.

There are those things upon this earth which we must approach with the wonder of a child as we reach to touch and feel and grow. For in a child the very magic of life is ever blooming regardless of season or situation. It is this magic and the desire which actually borders on need that will lead us to understand those things which we should understand. Then when we stand as children in that wonder we will also understand that we are human and the dog is a dog and the real magic is the invisible bond upon which we both exist. Unique and powerful, this bond knows no bounds, gives way to no religion or race. It has no political goals or ambitions. It cannot be purchased nor can it be sold. It simply is what it is and that in itself is magical. Giving way to the fact that just as all things have an ending, all things reason dictates have a beginning as well. It is this beginning that has become the foundation for speculation and myth yet may well find its most profound understanding in the simplicity in the light of that one candle which burns eternal, the truth.

Only in truth can one stand against all odds and all of life's storms. A new born child cries, tightly clutching his hands against the cold truth of his birth. Yet, he is born to first cry, then crawl, then to walk. These things he will do yet he will also one day reach out and feel the warm coat or cold nose of a dog, for both are bound to discover life's truths together and that stems from our beginning.

It is not my intent to offer any thought to discourage thought, but to open both mind and heart to the possibility that those things which we see only hide those things which we do not see and through the dog we are able to see even our beginning.

If, as the scientists once said, the dog came from wolves and evolved over thousands of years into the modern dog, why do we not see those same evolutionary changes today? In fact more studies are being conducted today than ever before regarding the wolf. These studies have been going on in the most pristine of conditions yet no wolf has showed any signs of changing into anything but a wolf, remaining wild, ever suspicious of any and all humans, proving that a wolf is simply a wolf a conclusion that may well give validity that the dog is simply a dog.

Maybe this is well the way in which we should apply the logic of one to see the illogic behind the other. If we pose this same theory behind those dogs which have run wild for generations yet can be reclaimed by man, we may well wonder why they have never returned to the once claimed "wolf state" of their beginnings. It is now stated that by those scientists that the dog actually evolved in a single lifetime from wolf to dog. As we follow the theories of those who look to test tubes and DNA for their educated guesses, we, each of us holds within us the answer as to where it all began.

©Mike McConnery/Baden K9 Incorporated, 09/09/07

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