Super Bowl Sunday is around the corner. Will yours include dogs, loud television, plus lots of food and people? First read this post on people food that can harm your pets. Sometimes in a split second accidents happen. 

With millions of dog lovers out there, I have a feeling that the following scenes will be played out in households all across the country. Am I right? Share your story in the comments.

Enjoy our dog Cleo acting out what will happen in our house this weekend. Though the San Francisco 49ers won't be in Super Bowl 2014, we still plan to...

Invite a few friends over and...

..serve pretzels. I'm sure..

..someone will bring corn chips

Why am I a human-animal bond evangelist? Because of dogs like this little Chihuahua, China Girl. She has been doing her best to give enough love to her papa to help balance the grief he is feeling for losing his wife to a brain tumor. 

Dogs like her come in a tiny package, but manage to display an enormous quantity of fierce love and compassion. How does she know he'll benefit from her expression of love? Is there a smell we give off that only they can detect? We've seen the stories of dogs sniffing out drugs, low blood sugar or even cancer cells. 

Dogs make us human 

Given the connection I feel with my dog Cleo, I wasn't surprised last year when I read how new research showed the bond between humans and dogs might be more ancient than previously believed, going back not 10,000 years but three times that figure.

You don't have to travel very far, let alone down under to meet Odie, an adorable adoptable Aussie senior dog 

Holy kryptonite Superman! Adorable puppy and gorgeous Clydesdale horse go straight to your heart, faster than the little dog in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Budweiser's ad agency knows what they're doing this year because this one minute Super Bowl commercial leverages what all of us dog lovers and horse nuts already know, images like the playful puppy pal with his horse friend are kryptonite. We will not change the channel until we see these best friends together again.

And nice touch ad agency with the subliminal dog adoption message through that signage. You will surely win a Clio (or Cleo) for understanding people who buy your products care less about swamp frogs burping out "bud...wei..ser" and more about dogs and dog adoptions. In my opinion.

If I'm over-thinking this, tell me about it in the comments, and generally if you have any thoughts about this commercial, do tell..

Dog lovers know that valentines and affairs of the heart, aren't just between people. There are a number of poems out there celebrating the love between human and dog. To honor our bond, I've found this poem by Kipling that had me shedding a few tears, but also made me smile when I imagined my dog Cleo waiting impatiently for me.

Read this beautiful poem, and tell me if your heart doesn't feel a little better afterwards in the comments [...]

This is the beginning of Milan Kundera's longer verse...and speaks to our love for dogs and the human-animal bond.

As an open dog lover, I sometimes wonder how that came about. Was I born that way? Is it a choice? Was it the result of my being exposed to our first puppy as a child? I had such a positive experience that I was hooked on canines? I wonder...

Bruin ponders why he's on the other side of the screen

Given that dogs can be loud, dirty and demanding, why are we continually drawn to them?

As a dog lover maybe I'm just a sucker for a pretty, furry, face? Not sure. All I can say is that my old dog is constantly changing when she wants to get up in the morning, or when we should make her get up. Does that happen with your old dog? Is it because she knows how much we adore her? 

Cleo is terribly ruthless playing the cute card, and her AARP card. What a stinker...

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In San Francisco it's unseasonably warm this winter. This photo was taken on a dog walk two days ago.

Unfortunately there are many parts of the country covered in a deep freeze. We want to help keep your furry buddy safe.

If you're dealing with colder temps or any of that snowy polar vortex, we've pulled five good reminders for you:

Lock up your girls because here comes the cutest Sailor! Swoon...

Fall in love with this handsome, and adoptable, senior dog...

Sleepy older dogs take the cutest photos. It's Hollywood awards season and I think my dog could fit right into a classic film noir movie, don't you agree? Well on second thought...

Only with that much thick fluff, she'd never get cast in The Thin Man. Cleo would probably choose an old western, if it meant she could roll in the dirt, dig everywhere and chase varmints. Honestly I could see her in either The Little Tramp, or with her clumsy moves and sense of humor, The Three Stooges.

What do you think? How about your dog?

Our dog hates baths. She becomes a donkey in her resistance. Out of the blue, she'll turns her nose up to liverwurst. Gravity takes hold of her rear end with the strength of the entire San Francisco 49ers defensive line.

Exhibit A - The disappointed dog face

Imagine her response, when CA Governor Brown asked for a 20% voluntary reduction in water use today?

Baby steps, or puppy steps, but when you consider the number of extremely talented, yet blended, dogs around, the news coming from the American Kennel Club is good. It means they're adopting a new attitude with the addition of an agility competition open to mixed breed dogs. 

Best in Show is still limited to specific breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club but [...]

Do you negotiate with your dog too? Our dog has been known to seize the moment when we suddenly melt into chuckles over her verbal and physical objections. She knows when she has the upper hand or paw, and ruthlessly uses her adorability over us.

Dogs enhance our lives. They enhance our social network which is important to our emotional well-being. They make us more outgoing, feel better about ourselves and they help us fight loneliness.

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