Man's best friendship is furever, tail and all

Whether or not you spell their name backward, or consider that they may in fact be the species with nine lives, as the number itself is fully spelled out within their very name, dogs (aka canines) are indeed sublime, perhaps even divine critters.

As luck would have it, Canis domesticus has for some reason decided to hitch its waggly tailed wagon to us upright-walking - though hardly upright - schmucks.

At some point tens of thousands of years ago in the evolution of mankind, dogs decided to throw nature for a loop and lose their lupus tendencies, preferring long walks by our side and dry bones for snacks instead of the loose flesh of our necks as appetizers, as wolfpacks are wont to do.