I learned more social skills from my dog than from people.

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My dog Spotty was really the first creature I ever really loved and who responded to me in a social and nonjudgmental way. From him I learned social cues and social reciprocity. He was very smart and very sweet. He was my best buddy and he helped me on my road to healing.

Does anyone else have a similar experience?

Same here, except for that onetime I stuck my face in a women's crotch and started sniffing that I didn't know. That didn't end well.

No, no, no, I'm being very serious,

Me too....



But seriously, my life is my dogs and they are my kids. My wife and I have 2 rescue dogs (and 1 rescue cat) and they are our entire lives and have helped me learn to communicate and how to show love. Having a spirit that will love you unconditionally and forgive you if you make a mistake can really teach one to learn to open up and to practice showing love without being afraid of the repercussions of rejection and insult.

The best part is, if I practice and learn from my dogs the most I can and then go out and use my new skills with real people and they still reject me, well I can still always go home to my dogs and they will be just as happy to see me. In all honesty, I don't care if I don't have to ever deal or interact with anyone again, as long as I have my dogs I am content.

Amen, brother, amen.

Dogs, actually, can read human faces in the same manner as an NT, and this has been shown in studies. They are amazing animals.

Nope but my dog I had from grade 1-12, Moki, I loved and I have photos of her up in my house but none of my actual family :-p

Dog's have the same friggin' expressions as people too. I could come home from school and know that my dog had done something bad because of the guilty way she acted. On occasionally I never found out what she'd done...maybe she was just about to do something >>

It's quite a thing to have cross-species communication like we do. Plenty of animals live in families and groups, but we don't really communicate with them emotionally like we do with dogs.

Do you mean your dog taught you to read people as well or just your dogs only?


People tend to read their pets better than anyone else, even parents can read their kids better than anyone else. That is something I have noticed. They just know what bothers their dog even though they are not expressing it but the owner still knows because they can read their cues and other people can't.

Dogs are incredible, and are one of the best ways to teach another human being empathy. While humans are complicated, balled-up bunches of secrets, lies, and emotions, dogs are simple, straightforward, and honest. They read your emotions, respond to you, and give you a healthy, simple back-and-forth in a way that other humans try for, but are by their very nature unable to achieve.

I've had years of my life where my dog was literally my only friend. I can honestly say she saved my life, and gave me a good enough reason to keep on living.

Never underestimate the good that a pet can do for you.

Dogs vs Wives

1. The later you are, the more excited your dogs are to see you.

2. Dogs don't notice if you call them by another dog's name.

3. Dogs like it if you leave a lot of things on the floor.

4. A dog's parents never visit.

5. Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across.

6. You never have to wait for a dog; they're ready to go 24 hours a day.

7. Dogs find you amusing when you're drunk..

8. Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.

9. A dog will not wake you up at night to ask, "If I died, would you get another dog?"

10. If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and give them away.

11. A dog will let you put a studded collar on it without calling you a pervert.

12. If a dog smells another dog on you, they don't get mad. They just think it's interesting.

13. Dogs like to ride in the back of a pickup truck.

And last, but not least:

14. If a dog leaves, it won't take half of your stuff.

To test this theory:
Lock your spouse and your dog in the garage for an hour.
Then open it and see who's happy to see you.

I learned my eating habits from my cockatiel.

My Rosey was 22 years old when she died. Not even the vet could say what breeds she was because she was such a mix. She did have these incredible eyes that looked like they were heavily lined with black kohl. And I am not sure how to describe the way she "talked," kindof like the scooby-doo dog. Whenever we left the house, upon our return she would stand at the top of the stairs and give us hell. We would apologize. She would say "roo-roo-roooo-roo-roo." This would go back and forth for a very humorous half hour. Once we taped it and planned to send it to "Worlds Funniest Videos," but we accidentally taped over it. So, Rosey did this ALWAYS, every time we returned from somewhere, for years.

The day I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I walked in the door. There was Rosey on the landing. I whispered "not today Rosey, I'm not up to it." She said nothing. I walked upstairs and she nuzzled against me. Until that day she was everyones puppy. After that day, she was my shadow. She never "told me off" again. I miss her googolplex.