of Dog skips eating to stay by owner's grave

"Properly trained, a man can be dog's best friend." That's what one American humorist, Corey Ford once rightly asserted.

I strongly agree.

We always hear how a dog is a man's best friend.

But is it vice versa?

The latest news has a sorrowful tale of how a dog skips eating to stay by his owner's grave. Inspiring. Yet it will be more so if the news is about a man/woman who skips eating to stay by his/her dog's grave.

Oh well...

Mr Lao Pan was unmarried and had no known relatives.

But the 68-year-old loner, who lived modestly in Panjiatun village near Qingdao city in China's Shandong province, had a loyal friend in his dog.

Early this month, Mr Lao died.

And in a touching scene of loyalty, the dog has refused to leave its master's grave, BBC News reported.

The report said that the pooch even went without food for seven days, lying next to the grave as if waiting for Mr Lao to return.

The villagers have been desperately trying to lure the animal away from the grave, but have been met with stubborn resistance so far.

Sky News reported that since noticing the pooch, villagers have been bringing food and water to the gravesite, and are even planning to build a kennel there.

A concerned local tried to take the animal home with him, but to no avail.

"I saw the dog when I was working in the field, and I called him, and wanted to take him back home because I also have a dog," the man told the BBC.

"I gave him a steamed bun when it came to my home. The dog took the bun and ran back. "I tried to catch it, but it ran even faster back to the tomb and stayed there."

Other loyal pooches

This canine's loyalty draws parallels to other famously loyal pooches, such as Hachiko, Japan's most faithful dog.

In 1924, Hachiko was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Professor Hidesaburo Ueno of the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo.

For many months, the pooch saw his master off to work at the front door and found his way to the nearby Shibuya Station to greet the man at the end of the day.

The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno didn't return one evening.

The Professor had suffered a stroke at the university that day.

He died and never returned to the train station where his dog was waiting for him.

Hachiko, not realising that its beloved master was dead, kept returning to the train station for more than 10 years, hoping that the man would eventually show up at the spot where they last met.

Sky News reported a similar story of Edinburgh's Greyfriars Bobby - a dog from the 19th century who returned to its master's grave every day for 14 years.

The dog now has a bronze statue erected in honour of its loyalty.

It also has its own website.

Bobby belonged to Mr John Gray, who worked for the Edinburgh City Police.

It was two years old when Gray died of tuberculosis in 1858 and was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard.

The dog apparently spent the rest of its life sitting on its master's grave, cared for by well-wishers.

Many books and films have been based on its story.

From Asiaone, "Dog skips eating to stay by owner's grave".