Not too long ago, a friend of mine told me how his dog, a 10-year-old English Bulldog named Gus, wandered out into his backyard, found a cozy spot under a shade tree, and settled in for a late afternoon nap. After several hours, my friend went looking for Gus only to find him still peacefully lying under the tree. However, upon closer inspection, my friend discovered that his good pal Gus was no longer sleeping but had peacefully passed away in his sleep. When my friend related this story to me I was mildly shocked because I could not recall one other instance of hearing of a dog dying peacefully while sleeping.

As I pondered the fact that dogs don't often die in their sleep, I started to make a mental list of the ways that dogs die. Often canine deaths involve traumatic occurrences of one kind or another -- if they're not hit by cars and trucks, they're starving to death while running loose, being euthanized because they are no longer wanted, plagued by horendous diseases, or abused and neglected. It all seems like such a sad commentary on the end of a dog's life.

I remember thinking at times that my dog had quite the life, sleeping for hours at a time only to be interrupted by a meal prepared by someone else. Bliss. Now as I take a more critical look at a dog's life, I am not so sure. The traumatic end of their life is merely the exclamation point to a life of trials. Imagine having only your mouth to use to carry things around, even your newborn kids! And how about all of that itching? It's bad enough that dogs have to endure things that cause itching like fleas and mange. Add to that the fact that dogs can't access all parts of their body very adequately. I mean, it drives me crazy when that one spot in the very middle of my back has an itch.

At least I can grab a ruler or a spatula or my darling wife and get that itch scratched. Now imagine having spots all over your body like that and no one to help you -- that would drive me loopy! Or imagine the frustration if, like a dog, we sported spots on our bodies that could only be scratched by using your mouth to bite the itch like you are a big old piece of corn on the cob.

The big downer for me would be mealtimes. There's no way you could choose when, where, or what you are going to eat (unless you can dig up an old rotten bone or sneak your owner's shoe out of the closet -- yum!).

Instead, you are fed the same exact meal every single, solitary day of your short miserable life. I have tasted dog food -- it's not that appealing in my human opinion.

I guess what I am saying is this: Next time you look down at Fido with a yearning to live the easy life of a dog, chase that thought right out of your mind and spend a few minutes helping your canine pal enjoy the good human life. Scratch him where he can't reach, clean out his ears for him, give him a warm bath and a tasty treat -- you know, like something you would like to eat, let him watch the football game with you -- yes, right there in the living room. After all, he is man's best friend!