>I prefer to think of them as independent as opposed to the irritating chuminess of your average dog. Dogs must be the most stupid animals man could have adopted as a pet. Don't look after you cat for a few weeks at the end you still have a cat. Don't look after you dog for a few weeks and at the end its either dead or ready to eat you.

One dog managed to get lost and still return home, and guess what - it's a whole industry now. The book was a bestseller, they made a few movies, a TV series...