| Pets Save More Relationships Than Dr.
Phil
MISSOULA, Montana (Wireless Flash) -- Forget
Dr. Phil -- pets are the best medicine when it comes to
maintaining a relationship.
Rachel Toor, author of the book, "The Pig
and I: Why It's So Easy to Love an Animal, and So Hard
to Live with a Man" (Penguin), says when couples share a
pet, they become closer and see their own faults in their
animals.
For instance, Toor says she once shared her
pet pig with an ex-boyfriend and began to see her own personality
traits
reflected
in the pig, such as selfishness, lack of tolerance and
bullheadedness.
Although she didn't recognize her own
pitfalls in time to save the relationship, Toor says
she plans on using what she now knows
about herself for future relationships.
In addition, Toor
says pets help us accept our partners for who they are
because, as she puts it, "With pets, we have
to accept them because we can't change them. It should
work the same way with humans. "
"The Pig and I" will
be hogging bookstore shelves starting Feb. 1. | 
