Doggone it! Missed National Dog Day

Shame on me for yesterday's missed acknowledgment of National Dog Day. I didn't realize it until I started seeing everyone's pictures of their best friends. I'm a dog lover, not a cat lover, but I do have cats in the barn. These important members of our family are the best. There are now 65.1 million homes in the U.S. with at least one dog. Our neighbors in Idaho have the highest percentage of homes with a dog at 58.3 percent. We aren't far behind, but we do have the most dogs in proportion to our population. In Montana, there are 1,090 dogs per 1,000 people, which means many have more than one, including me.

Get our free mobile app

People also spend the green on their pooches, with the average being $2,116.00 per year per animal. Over 50 percent of the people who own dogs consider them another member of the family. I wonder what the other 50 percent think? The problem with dogs is they don't live as long as turtles or even cats, so we only have them for about ten years or so before they move on. It's like a death in the family if you've ever lost one, but people almost always get another to fill that void.

We've all seen the T-shirt that says dogs are better than people. So true, but not all people. I've never owned a bad dog, and when one of my two passes on, I'll always get another. The one who has senior status can always show the rookie the ropes and how we do things. So, happy belated National Dog Day to man's best friend...

See ya tomorrow at 5.