A brilliant writer for Vanity Fair, John Homans recently died at 62 from colon cancer. He wrote What's A Dog For?, my favorite book of the year. As Homans points out, interaction with a dog increases the level of oxytocin in humans. Oxytocin is a hormonal stress reliever, and it lowers anxiety. You are more likely to survive a heart attack if you have a dog. Children raised with dogs are more empathic than those who are not. A man is more likely to get a date if he is a dog-owner. Dogs are less boring than most of the people you meet on a daily basis. Unhappy couples often stay together because of the dog; when the dog dies they get divorced. When a dog doesn't like a person, the dog is usually right.