A number of interested dog lovers talked to me about the recent column pertaining to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and the happy reunion held for some of Michael Vick’s former fighting dogs that had been given new lives.

It’s really a good lesson in the inherent possibilities of turning a dog’s life upside down through kindness and understanding of caring people who want to help animals.

It sparked my memory of a message that had been sent to me by another animal lover years ago. It deals with some amazing quotes pertaining to that situation and other thoughts about animals, especially dogs.

• Some of our greatest and historic treasures we place with curators in museums; others we take for walks.

• Friends are the family we choose. Is it any wonder that dogs are called “man’s best friends?”

•  “A dog wags its tail with its heart.”

• “He is your friend, your partner, your defender …your dog; You are his life, his love, his leader; He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart; You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion!”

•  “Dogs teach us more things about being a better person …than people do.”

• “We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare; And in return, dogs give us their all.
It’s the best deal man had ever made!”

• “I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things that you get from the silent, devoted companionship of a dog that you can get from no other source.”

• “Inside every Newfoundland, Boxer, Elkhound, and Great Dane is a puppy longing to climb up into your lap!”

•  “I think that dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.”

•  “Dogs laugh, but they laugh with their tails.”

•  “I used to look at my dog and think ‘If you were a little smarter you could tell what I’m thinking,” and he would look at me like he was saying , “If you were a little smarter, I wouldn’t have to.”

• “Dogs share with us the privilege of having a soul!”

• “No matter how little money or possessions you own, having a good loyal dog  makes you rich.”

• And my personal favorite quote about someone’s true love for a dog:  “I can’t think of anything that brings me closer to tears than when my old dog -- completely exhausted after a hard day in the field -- limps away from her nice spot in front of the fireplace, and comes over to where I am sitting, and puts her head into my lap, a paw over my knee, closes her eyes, and goes back to sleep. I don’t know what I have ever done to deserve that kind of friend!”