by Courtney Alexis Packard

Created on: February 09, 2009   Last Updated: February 13, 2009

You could try to tell me that animals do not have a sense of humor, and I would call you a liar. Now, I'm not very knowledgable about many things, nor do I pretend to be, but I can honestly say that I am one-hundred thousand percent positive about this answer. Yes. God created animals for us humans. And God has a sense of humor. And God gave us senses of humor, so why would he treat our animals any differently?

I'm one of those people who thinks that their pet is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But what seperates me from all those others who boast about their pets awesomeness is that I'm actually telling the truth. My beagle is, without a doubt, the light of my life and the apple of my eye. I am obsessed with him and would go all Paris Hilton crazy with him, but the poor thing is about 25 pounds shy of fitting into my handbag. My four year-old Joey is the optime of what every good pet should be, or at least aspire to be. He's beautiful, snuggly, and loyal to a fault. But Jo-bizzle's most valuable characteristic has to be his goofiness. I've laughed at that dog more times than I've watched Panda Sneeze on YouTube. No person can spend a whole day with my beloved and not be convinced that animals have a funny bone.

Let's start with my favorite of this unusual behaviors: Joey likes to spend a lot of time underneath my husband's any my bed talking to himself. And I don't mean he lies under there and barks or howls at us. This canine spends hours under our bed literally murmering to himself in a language only he could ever understand. You have to be really quiet to hear it, but it's audible. It's occasionally accompanied by the scurrying and shuffling of papers (we leave lots of gift wrappings under the bed for storage) and my husband and I have laughed ourselves silly at the thought of Joey trying to do paperwork beneath our bed. So it's long since been a joke that our beagle has a career doing other people's taxes. When he disapears into our room we look at each other and say, "Is it tax season already?"

And our precious Joey cannot for the life of him figure out what the long, furry contraption stuck to his butt is. No matter how many times we try to explain to him that it's his tail, he still spins himself in circles trying to capture that mysterious little doo-dad attached to his backside. When frusterated that he cannot seem to reach it, Joey will start screaming at his tail. Usually this screaming causes his tail to get away from him, so Joey retaliates by jumping around the room in a series of yoga poses trying to see where it went (I've had beverages shoot out my nose while watching this). And this whole ordeal gets him so excited, Joey begins running from room to room throwing his snout underneath blankets and laundry and shouting wildly into the carpet.

These are all games my dog loves to play and proof to anyone that animals love to be entertained and have fun. People too easily run with the idea that since dogs aren't people, they cannot possibly be capable of thoughts. I disagree. While I'm not trying to say that dogs can solve math equations and know how to tailor pants, I am saying that dogs have needs and wants...just like us people. They want love, attention, food, and safey. They also want to play and have fun. I believe with all my heart and soul that when Joey collapses into my lap after a grueling round of "What's this on my butt?", tongue hanging out and panting, that that is his canine equivalent to laughing.

Learn more about this author, Courtney Alexis Packard.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.