The dog eye for the careful programmer

Dogs, a programmers best friend or just mans? Think about it, a programmer is just a human being. Sure they may know something that most others don't (programming), but that doesn't change the fact.
Now as the phrase suggests, "dogs are mans best friend". Means that we work best and along side a dog at our side. Now this originally meant wolves. But we have since breed them into a whole bunch of breeds with each being specialised for their different tasks. This may be herding or just companionship.