Why are dogs?

I’m not looking for the scientific answer, although evolutionary biology is certainly part of the puzzle. I’m thinking, rather, of the emotional answer.

Our ancestors needed close friends of different species. They needed scavengers to pick up and eat their garbage, thus keeping other, more dangerous, carnivores away. They needed fuzzy little companions to pet and to talk to without threat of being answered. They favored the cute ones who wagged their tails. They wanted some extra warm bodies around on those cold nights.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. That’s an expression that wasn’t meant to explain why dogs, but it works. We invented dogs because we needed them. On a larger scale, our needs helped to create life.