Dogs and us

The nation is much relieved to know that the Obama family now has a dog, a Portuguese water dog name Bo. The First Puppy is a gift from Sen. Ted Kennedy (no jokes about water, Chappaquiddick, please).
Meanwhile, over at both Kennedy's and Obama's alma mater, Harvard scientists are scientists are studying if and how dogs think.
One of the Harvard scientists studying dog behavior observed, generally about dogs, "If you have an animal and it's more than that, it's truly a member of your family, you see things every day that you don't have the ability to explain or describe, but you know how important it is to you."
Now, we love our dog in particular and, for the most part, dogs in general. Nevertheless, some dogs seem destined to take undue chances with their Darwinian fate.
To wit, when a UK dog had an operation to treat a suspected tumor, doctors discovered that the dog's stomach contained "17 garments, including nine socks, four gloves and a stocking." The family had been wondering where their laundry had gone to. The teen-aged son had first noticed that his rubber gloves went missing two years ago.