Argentina: People, let me tell you (a reflection on dogs)

Best friends. They brighten our days. Most of the time we are happy to see them. We confide in them and trust them to keep our secrets. We invite them to go for walks and sometimes to go hunting if that is a hobby we share. We also give them our table scraps, and sometimes dress them in cute sweaters and put bows on their ears.

Wait...what kind of best friends are we talking about here? Dogs, of course. Are they really our best friends? I am not quite convinced on that matter; however, I will agree that they can serve a multitude of purposes which include providing companionship and protection. How we treat our dogs (which may also be our best friends...or perhaps not, and that is okay, too) reveals part of our cultural values. Allow me to further expand upon a previous post about societies and their dogs that I wrote quite a few moons ago.

In some societies, dogs serve as a home security system. In others, dogs are meant for hunting, searching, and rescuing. Some cultures view dogs as prized trophies which deserve the finest treatment complete with name-brand merchandise and visits to the doggy spa. Others let their dogs roam the streets in search of innocent ankles to bite (this may be wrath manifesting itself from a previous experience). What is certain is this: dogs play infinite roles in peoples' lives around the world, ranging from best friend to football manager.

Notice the backup to the offensive line.

They can fetch stray balls, race against players as they run sprints, and lift team morale when everybody's getting tired. As I watched football practice at one of Córdoba's big city parks, a handful of street dogs joined in on the fun of training. They never complained about having to run (again) or having to redo a play (for the tenth time) or having to chase a ball that went way out of bounds. Their contagious energy pushed the players to test their limits time and again. This brought me to think: was Air Bud onto something? Why don't more football teams have dogs on their coaching staff?

Because despite all of these great contributions that the dogs brought to the practice, they mostly got in the way. Players had to expend more energy chasing them off the field than running their actual plays, and somebody still would end up tripping over them when a play was finally practiced. Oh well. The dogs clearly had good intentions, plus they made for an entertaining afternoon of watching football practice. 

Coach. Add it to the list of roles that our dogs/best friends fulfill.