Your dog is happier than you are.

Maybe not every single moment, not when the vacuum is running, not when there's a squirrel encroaching on your home territory.

But observe a typical dog on a typical day, and you'll

see them cycle through what looks like contentment, vigilant engagement, cozy relaxation,

and exuberant frenzied joy. Why can't we do that? From KERA in Dallas, this is Think. I'm

Chris Boyd. It is hard to imagine dogs lie around second-guessing

any of their choices or contemplating their own morality or wondering if their lives are even

worth living. It's like they found a path to what philosophers call the good life without even

knowing philosophy exists. And my guest thinks there is a lot we can learn from that. Mark

Rollins, is Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at the University of Miami. His book

is The Word of Dog, what our canine companions can teach us about living a good life. Mark, welcome

to think.

Thank you, Chris. Delighted to be here. Thanks for inviting me. You have had a number of

beloved dogs, but you build a lot of this book around your dog, Shadow. What tells you that Shadow

loves his life? Well, I started thinking about the book one day when something sort of dawned on me.

I've been walking Shadow on the canal that runs behind our house for years, you know,

and every morning we head out there and lined up along the bank will be scores and scores

of iguanas.

And the shadow, I'll unleash him, he takes off, the iguanas peel off one by one into the water

and swim over to the far bank.

And then they stay over there for the rest of the day.

But nighttime, it seems, it's a time of forgetting for iguanas.

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