When you walk you dog, you meet other people who are walking their dogs. The dogs sniff each other, you exchange a few words, and you carry on until you meet up with the next dog. This happens day after day, and before long, your get to learn everyone's name. The dog's names, that is - I can seldom remember the people's names. The dogs are the ties that bind, and without them, we'd know a lot fewer of our neighbors.
Lucky dogs have good owners, and it's no coincidence that good owners have good dogs.
Unfortunately, all dogs aren't that lucky. In Maine, as just about anywhere, too many people get dogs for the wrong reasons. Puppies are cute, but few people realize the work and responsibility in owning one. Some spend their lives on the end of that chain, never knowing what it's like to be included in a family. More often, once the cute is gone and the unchecked bad habits take over, the dog is sent away to a shelter or pound.