Putin and His Dogs

Now we have to like Putin a little more.

He loves his dogs.

In a controversial new biography that claims to divulge insights into the Russian leader, Stanislav Belkovsky, a Moscow political scientist and tabloid columnist, writes, “Here we have Vladimir’s best friends; the Labrador Conny and the Bulgarian shepherd dog Buffy, his only roommates in the presidential residence.

Who can dislike a man who treats his dogs like his best friends and regards them as roommates in his palatial residences?

Belkovsky’s book, reports the German magazine Spiegel, also claims that “the ruler of the world’s largest country (by land), with 143 million inhabitants, nuclear weapons and huge quantities of natural resources, is in reality a pathetic weakling (who) disguises his weaknesses with macho behavior.

Belkovsky also writes that that “sex and a sex life are alien” to Putin, that he “flees from people,” and may be “latently gay.”

The author of the biography attributes Putin’s problems and efforts to conceal his true nature to his childhood and upbringing.

“The small Vladimir was a withdrawn and grim child, born the son of an alcoholic.” Raised by a couple who were not his parents, Belkovsky says he has spent his life looking for a “surrogate family.”

Spiegel also reports that although Belkovsky has stood out for years with his “impudent and salacious claims about Putin,” many people believe he’s “given protection by high-ranking members of the Russian intelligence community.”

A spokesperson for Putin dismissed the book as “total rubbish.”

The pop psychology may not be credible, but no doubt he really does love his dogs and, like most of us who love our dogs, considers them his best friends.

And doesn’t that just make him a little more likeable and human?

On the other hand, Hitler also loved his dogs.