According to Future Pundit (who Glenn Reynolds linked), the latest research shows that "dogs rule":

New research from the University of Missouri has found that people who walk dogs are more consistent about regular exercise and show more improvement in fitness than people who walk with a human companion. In a 12-week study of 54 older adults at an assisted living home, 35 people were assigned to a walking program for five days a week, while the remaining 19 served as a control group. Among the walkers, 23 selected a friend or spouse to serve as a regular walking partner along a trail laid out near the home. Another 12 participants took a bus daily to a local animal shelter where they were assigned a dog to walk.

Future Pundit Randall Parker's conclusion:

Dogs are good for humans.

I also know that dogs can save your life in other ways. There is no better device available for preventing home intrusions, and because dogs have better senses than we do (or than guns do), many times a bad guy is deterred without our even knowing it. It makes me feel guilty about the number of times I may have yelled "SHUT UP!" at my dogs just as the psychopath they deterred without my noticing skulked away and decided to find another mark.

Dogs also avert depression by providing a constant distraction, and I believe they help prevent suicide. They certainly did in my case, as even when I wanted to end it all, I just wasn't selfish enough to do something like that to animals that I loved who depended on me. I would have had to get rid of them first -- a thought more awful than getting rid of myself. I don't mean to be maudlin, but I do not exaggerate when I say that one of the reasons I am alive today is because of my dogs.

Coco is a nice dog who nonetheless harbors no illusions about humanity. She knows that while there are many nice people in the world, there are also assholes everywhere.

In fact, I just heard her barking at an idiot who does not know how to drive.

She may be jealous of the driver, though. Because as I have explained before, much as I love Coco, I don't fully trust her driving skills.

But it's easy to overlook a fault like that.

They let anyone drive these days, so why not Coco?

MORE: I just noticed that the bureaucrats in the government of Chaos screwed up Coco's height and weight. Typical.

AND MORE: Not only were Coco's height and weight wrong, but I was shocked to learn upon closer reinspection that her license had expired in 2007! Thanks to my inside contacts with the movers and shakers inside the State of Chaos, I saw to it that all of these things were corrected. Thank God!

It's bad enough to have a dog with questionable driving skills, but driving on an expired license? Heaven forfend!