Everything I know about successful relationships, I learned from my dogs

Really? Yes, really.  Humans may be more complex creatures, but when it comes to relationships, I'm not sure that's better.  Think about it.  Dogs are pack animals.  There is always an Alpha dog, the one in charge.  Everyone knows who that is, there's no need to announce it, no need to pound the chest.  The Alpha isn't usually pushy about it, not in my house anyway.  She doesn't assert herself unless she needs to, and she doesn't need to unless someone misbehaves.  Then, she corrects the behavior and the pack continues humming along.  No assumptions of bad motives or evil thinking - she just addresses the behavior and it's done.  She's quite secure with herself and with her standing in the pack, and so is the pack.

My Alpha girl has a boyfriend.  He thinks she walks on water.  She thinks he's pretty cute.  Do they get on each other's nerves?  Heck, yes.  After all, he's 5 years younger than her and pretty active.  You know, sometimes he's just plain annoying.  Do they get jealous of each other?  Sure.  Heaven help the human who pets one of them more than the other.

Watch them for a while, though, and what you see is a pretty great relationship.  He's too rambunctious, she tells him, then goes off to be alone;  he lets her.  They never stay mad for long.  They play, and sometimes she wins, sometimes she lets him win.  They take turns on the couch.  They look out for each other.  They nuzzle each other, they curl up together, they make sure they both get some of the food they manage to sneak off the table.  All in all, they're pretty happy.  Kind of amazing, when you figure they didn't choose to be together, we chose it for them.  Soooooooo, why do humans who do choose to be with each other have so much trouble getting along?  Is that what being more evolved means?  Maybe that's not such a great thing......