My now sixteen year old niece would kill me if she knew I was telling this story, but one of my favorite family videos shows her at age seven, sitting cross- legged in her underwear on the living room floor divvying up toys for two patient Labrador retriever mixes. Ethan and Chase were more than content to listen to her work through the logic of a stuffed animal distribution system. Each plushie was presented to a dog for their feedback and then returned to a stool to await the final evaluation and dog assignment. The dogs were most likely thrilled that a human would sit on the floor with them…