I read somewhere that Dave Barry said, “Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing, right in your ear.”

That reminds me of my daughter Amy’s dog Minnie, the one I mentioned in last week’s column. Minnie doesn’t bark in your ear, but she loves to ride in the car. That is, once she’s inside it. Just rattle a key and she trots straight to the front door. On her way to the car, she knows she gets to circle the wisteria bush in the front yard a few times, sniff around an azalea bush beside the house, and if she’s real quick, make a detour to the edge of the woods while we nag her every minute to “Come on.” Once inside the car, she’s happy. She either settles down in the lap of the passenger or stands on that person’s leg to look out the window.

One day I went by Amy’s house to pick her up. I heard Minnie barking to get outside. Amy scooped her up and brought her to the car, then went back inside to pick up something. My son-in-law walked over and tapped on the window, then held out his hands to Minnie. As soon as she saw him, she leaped over the console into my lap, turned her back to him, and stood on my leg to look out the window on my side. Much as she loves him, she wasn’t about to miss a ride.

Groucho Marx said, “Outside of a dog, a book is probably man’s best friend; inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”

Another person said dogs must think we are the greatest hunters in the world when we come home from the grocery store with the most amazing haul—pork, chicken, and half a cow.

I like a quote from Christopher Morley: “No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does.”

Persons unknown left us with these sayings: “Some days you’re the dog; some days you are the hydrant,” and “In dog years, I’m dead.”

Ann Landers once advised “Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.

You’ve probably read articles and seen television accounts of the benefits of dogs visiting nursing homes. There’s just something about them that brings out a response from some people who might not respond to another human. It is said that there is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.

Mark Twain believed that the principal difference between a dog and man is if you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he won’t bite you.

Someone said, “You are your dog’s life, love, and leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart…” I’d say that’s true mostly with Minnie except when there’s a car ride involved.