Why Dogs and Penguins Make us Happy

Animals have always been a comfort to the human species. Man's best friend's history is almost as old as our own. About 15,000 years ago men domesticated gray wolves who formed strong bonds with their masters that were readily reciprocated. Wolves, dogs and humans are all very social and the former simply replaced their usual pack leader with a human! It's a relationship not properly understood by many today and, Cesar Milan, The Dog Whisperer, and others who work with dogs, seem to have to remind humans their role is that of a pack leader!

The relationship between dogs and their masters was probably celebrated in some of the first stories told by our ancestors as they sat around fires – all the more secure because of their four-legged companions who doubled as alarms and protectors.

"The Epic of Gilgamesh" is the oldest piece of known literature composed in Babylonia more than 3,000 years ago, and it is apparent that dogs had long been companions to those who peopled our first known story. Dogs’ roles were often as integral in our stories as they are in our lives.

I’ve had a number of dogs; I have enjoyed their company through beautiful landscapes, in front of fires, and found they’ve always had time to listen with unconditional love. Although it would be easy to continue singing our canine cousins’ praises, I mention the relationship to merely establish the close ties we've had with animals over the Millenia.

Certainly part of the pleasure we derive from our pets is from just watching them. More importantly, we seem to find endless pleasure seeing them enjoy themselves. Accompanying a dog on any walk but especially through woods or other favorite paths is to share in the dog's delight. Often we feel better - even happier as a result of just watching our animals enjoy themselves.

It seems an appealing quality of the human species that we are able to delight and share in the pleasure of others. We seem to find much of the same pleasure in watching young children enjoy themselves having fun as we do watching animals, for instance. And experience should teach us a great deal of caution about claiming this ability as uniquely human, since most myths of our species compared to others have already been discredited.

The pleasure that humans derive from watching animals enjoy themselves can now be measured in a quantifiable manner, albeit it crudely. Of course, i'm referring to YouTube, all of the animal clips that we love to watch and the impressive number of views that helps quantify the attraction.

However, I think that our relationship to animals even allows us to experience watching YouTube videos as a unique experience. We may express all the usual signs of joy, pleasure and warmth that we show when watching many types of videos; however, these animal videos bring us an added dimension that I've found difficult to articulate, since it is the material of Bards rather than the stuff or articles. The ability to delight in the joy of others, even when belonging to a different species, allows us to forget about ourselves. It's almost as if our egos melt away in much the same way they're meant to at times of religious insight. In mundane terms, we lose ourselves in the joy of others.

These are some of the thoughts that occur to me why I am so attracted to particular animal videos. We find our greatest happiness in the joy of others. The experience of watching some of these videos might seem a pleasurable way of idling away some spare time -- and that might be all it is. However, at another level, it is as deep and meaningful experience as we might have in any holy place.

To lose ourselves and our egos is considered, by some as a spiritual goal. Regardless, the attraction of many of these animal video suggests that there is something more profound at work than we suspect. It isn't chance that cruelty and lack of empathy for animals is one of the most disturbing behaviors seen in children. There's a growing body of evidence that shows human cruelty to animals rarely stops there. The way we respond towards animals tells us more about ourselves than the animals.

I offer these thoughts to suggest that the joy and laughter we express when watching animals enjoying themselves or interacting with pleasure with our own kind to suggests there's something more profound at work. The barrier between pleasure and happiness is destroyed much in the same way as our egos melt away. On such rare occasions our pleasure has turned to happiness.

Although penguins will never replace dogs as our companions, they seem to have won a special place in our hearts in recent years. Certainly the popular March of the Penguins in 2005 did a lot to first win our respect and love before Happy Feet made us laugh the next year. I always suspected Charlie Chaplin appreciated penguins and should have felt a little indebted to them.

I have suggested why our usual responses to animal videos are more profound than we suspect. However, sometimes images defy all analysis and I throw down the gauntlet to any reader to say that he or she didn’t feel a whole lot happier and better as a result of watching the following YouTube. If you’re having either a great day or a particularly bad one, the following comes with this writer’s guarantee that you’ll feel better after spending the less than one minute required to watch it!