Why are we crazy about dogs? SAD

This is sad, but a good end.

My wife was one of those painfully shy children. She and her sister didn't make friends easily, but the ones they did make will probably be friends forever. 15 years ago an acquaintance of hers asked that she watch his dog for a while. The dog was a Rot/Golden Lab mix. Dumber than a stick, but sweet as sin. A couple of months down the line that acquaintance saw how attached she had become to the dog and decided that she should keep him. She happily accepted.
My wife had a roommate to begin with, but after a few years she bought her own house. It was not in what I consider the best part of town. It was a bit of a clean enclave in an otherwise shady area. you could faintly hear gunshots every now and then. Single woman living alone downtown. She had her buddy though. He waited for her by the window every day and slept at the foot of her bed each night. When she went running (yes, in this shady neighborhood) he was right there with her. A young lady is always safe when she is running with a dog that is carying a 6 foot long, 3 inch in diameter stick in his mouth. Picture the neck muscles of a dog who can jog with a stick when 5 feet are hanging out of the left side of his mouth, and 1 foot out the right. Even more impressive is that his head stayed straight, and the stick parallel to the ground.
She had had this dog for 10 years by the time we married, and still brought him presents whenever we went out. I'm still not sure he took to me too well, I stole some of his attention. He wouldn't let us; actually he wouldn't let anyone hug in front of him. If you tried to hug him though, he would run off like you were some kinda deamon. We moved out to the country in Iowa where he was able to run free and chase cows. He still didn't like me much. One morning he even decided to poop on my shoe as I was trying to get him to go outside. Life was on his terms!
Monday, due to his advanced age it was decided that his time had come. He was so old that he couldn't get himself off of the floor to either eat or go outside and relieve himself. he had lost his vision and a lot of his hearing. I thought the smell of food was his main reason for sticking around. He proved me wrong this morning. He stuck around for my wife. Last night My wife's parents were having a dinner party. He was up and around almost like his old self. Stealing cheese and gingerbread cookies, flirting with all the ladies. His last hurrah.
Today was the day that the Vet was supposed to come get him. I don't think he accepted that though. From what I have found out, the Veterinarian here requires verbal confirmation from the owner before they render the needle. I've come to believe that, under his terms, he wasn't willing to force his "Mama" to make that statement. His appointment was at 4 this afternoon. An hour ago he died in my wife's arms.

So why are we crazy about dogs? what are they good for? They smell bad, stand in our way, drool, chew our stuff, throw up in the car, eat cat poop, bark at everything that dares to think of making noise on their turf, knock the groceries out of our hands and the plates off the table.

I wonder if it's the fact that they always want to be right next to us. Perhaps that they are always happy, always ready to curl up for a movie, always ready to put themselves between us and whatever that noise was in the middle of the night, always willing to absorb our tears when we cry, always ready to entertain, always ready to lend us their heads when we are lonely and need something to pet, always ready to play with and protect our children.
I suppose that it could also be that they never lecture, never judge, never look down on us, never have a foul word to say and they always return. Even if it is just for the food.

My wife loved everything about that dog.

I still don't think he cared much for me. I always liked him, but I was kindove indifferent in general. He was her dog. This morning I think I found a reason to love him. When it was his time to go he chose to go on his own terms, and his terms stated that my wife didn't have to make the choice.