The happier my dog is, the higher she holds her tail. I call it her happy flag.

Flag--that was the name of a dog in an old Italian movie Umberto D, directed by Vittorio DeSica.

Also if you have ever read any books by Eric Franklin, an excellent physical movement- stretching-yoga-ish writer, he tells you that human anatomy still has residual structures for wagging tails because we evolved from animals with tails. Pelvic Power is the name of one of his books.

I couldn't agree more! I trained my dogs before coming to work this morning, and between the pleasure of seeing them progress with their learning, joy in doing what they are bred for, and the sunshine and fresh air, it set me up for a much better day than I might otherwise have experienced :-).

My dog put you up to this post, didn't he? He really loves his walks, and he's drawn the short end of the deal this week.

Cats too!

... Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?...

(The Naming of Cats by T.S. Eliot)

Dear David Allen
it is amazing!
I have 2 black Labradors- Juno and Hebe.
I am enjoying your newsletters eeeenormously!
Did you know that the first Labradors arrived in the UK at Poole Dorset and that there are a lot of Allens listed in the Dorset phone book!
I'm Irish and I live in Somerset, but I feel that maybe my ancestors came from Dorset. How about you?
Best regards
David Allen

David here - David, obviously with a name like David Allen, you're a man of upstanding character, strength, and marvelous finesse. And, I haven't a clue where my ancestors hailed from, other than Scotch/English/Irish stock that moved west from the early U.S. colonies into Louisiana and Texas in the 1800's.