Woof woof

John Gray was a constable in the town of Edinburgh, Scotland during the mid-19th century who owned a Skye terrier named Bobby. Every day, Gray would take Bobby along with him on patrol and when 1 p.m. came around, the two would have lunch at Traills Coffee House, with Bobby sitting at Gray's feet, eating a bone.

However, as the years passed, Gray developed tuberculosis and soon passed away. Gray was buried at the historic Greyfriars Kirk, which was not far from the coffee house. Bobby was seen following the funeral procession and not long after, he was spotted inside the graveyard, sitting near his master's grave, sitting vigil.

Though dogs were prohibited from the graveyard and Bobby was occasionally chased away, he always found his way back to his master's grave, only to leave to have lunch at Traills Coffee House every day at 1 p.m. Eventually a shelter was built for Bobby where he could live and continue to keep guard over his master until his own death 14 years later.

Bobby's story, which later became a children's tale and subsequently a Disney film, is well known to many around the globe, though many do not realize that it actually did happen. If you don't believe it, Bobby's bowl and collar are on display in Edinburgh's Huntly House museum and a bronze statue of Bobby now resides at the entrance of the graveyard, still standing guard.

This is just one of the hundreds of amazing stories involving dogs, but there is a common theme to all of them. Each story attributes certain characteristics to dogs, which we associate with them today. Loyalty, dependability and intelligence. Above all, though, these stories exemplify why dogs, above all other animals, are man's best friend. These qualities in dogs aren't recent occurrences either. In fact, their loyalty to its master can be traced back over 1,000 years.

"When Pompeii, the Roman community destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, was finally excavated, searchers found evidence of a dog lying across a child, apparently trying to protect the youngster," according to indianchild.com.

"Cats are traitors, they'd put a knife in their owner's back if they could, but not dogs. Dogs are loyal and sweet and just plain awesome," said Shane Bright, freshman physical education major.

The dog from Pompeii died trying to save her master but there are literally hundreds of instances where a dog has successfully prevented somebody's death, typically in amazing fashion.

Even certified heroes need help sometimes, which was certainly the case for Jim Leonard, who works with the Seneca County Sheriff's Department and has received five life-saving awards for meritorious performance. After working a late shift, Leonard was sleeping, when his new Rottweiler puppy Zoey, woke him up by licking his face. Even though she was a puppy, it was unusual behavior for Zoey.

Leonard had taken the dog outside only a few hours earlier, so he tried to convince the dog to go back to sleep for a few hours. Zoey, however, was persistent and eventually got Leonard out of bed to take her for a walk. Zoey's behavior remained odd, though, as she refused to move from the kitchen door, only to be goaded into coming outside with treats.

When Leonard went back into his house, he was overwhelmed by the smell of what turned out to be methane gas. Zoey had noticed the smell long before it would be detectable by a human nose.

"She's my hero. She knew that it wasn't supposed to smell like that and was smart enough to wake me up," Leonard told dogsinthenews.com.

Smart is a word that comes up a lot when speaking of dogs.

"Dogs are very smart. They're the only animal that we would trust to lead blind people around. I've never seen a seeing-eye cat walking down the street," said Kyle Hoffman, freshman biology major.

Smart may be one thing, but some dogs are brilliant. Rico is a dog that was featured in newspapers around the country last year. He is a border collie with the vocabulary of a 3-year-old, but most importantly, he can acquire and use language much like a human being. That makes Rico smarter than most chimps. He can do much more incredible things, though.

According to Bill Bishop of statesman.com, " ... researchers would place 10 items in a room in the house while Rico and his owner waited in another room. Rico would then be told to fetch an item while the humans waited out of sight. Rico retrieved the correct item 37 out of 40 times."

Dogs have been alongside humans since prehistoric times. While the human species has continued to evolve, our strong connection with dogs has never faltered. Occasionally, there are stories of dog attacks, but typically it is because the animal has been abused or has lived in poor conditions. For the most part, most stories involving dogs shows them to be bright, friendly and loyal animals, very deserving of the title "man's best friend."