I decided to present this material it as if it were a summary of a university course which I named “Dog Philosophy 101.” The talk appeared to be well received, and when I returned home I found a flock of e-mail messages asking me to publish my brief little address. In response to those requests I give you an outline of
Dog Philosophy 101.
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It seems to me that you never stop learning. I, for instance, seem to learn a lot from just watching my dogs. In fact it is from my observations of the behavior of my dogs that I recently came to the conclusion that the modern university curriculum seems to suffer from a major deficiency in preparing you for your future life and
career. Fortunately some knowledge of the philosophy of life that dogs follow can remedy the situation. Therefore, in order to fill what I see as a major gap in your
education I'm going to take a few minutes of the time allotted to me here to give you your last course before you graduate
—this course is
Dog Philosophy 101. It is a multidisciplinary course which has implications for a variety of other fields of study.
To begin with,
for all disciplines that require research the dog philosophers have established a basic principle. The principle is that if you can't find what you're looking for use your nose. Simply sniff around. If this doesn't find what you are looking for, start digging. If you still haven’t found it then dig deeper. If you find yourself in too deep, stop digging. Climb out of the hole, lie down on the grass and just rest a bit. Sometimes we find what we're looking for when we stop looking.
On issues of
law, morality, and ethics, the dog philosophers teach that sometimes you are allowed to break a few rules—so if the occasion arises, go for it. However, it is also the case that when it is in your best interest you should practice obedience.
In the area of
business management and leadership, the dog philosophers offer a basic experimental procedure. If you think you are a person with some influence, try ordering someone else's dog around. It doesn't work. This experiment demonstrates that a dog will work for you if he likes you, and it also shows that he will work even harder if he also respects you. Remember that this principle works not only in dog pack hierarchies, but also in herds of people.
