Читать книгу The Dog Owner's Handbook - Graham Meadows - Страница 19

For four out of five dog owners the most important feature of owning a dog is the company it provides. Companionship may mean simply having the dog around or the dog may be a working companion or used for a specific task.

The Golden Retriever is an affection-demanding breed – and with their exceptional patience towards children, they nearly always receive the affection they so enjoy.

For many of us a dog acts as a safeguard against loneliness; it becomes a partner and a friend in whom we can confide. If you think you are unusual in talking to your dog as if it were another human being, don’t worry. You are not unusual at all. Most of us behave in a similar way.

As well as talking to our dogs, we instinctively use methods of communication that we would use with members of our own species. To console our dogs, for example, we use standard ’primate gestures’ such as stretching out our hands and patting them, pursing and smacking our lips and uttering soothing noises, although men are generally less demonstrative in this respect than women.