The saying goes, “A dog is a man’s best friend.”

Not so fast.

You haven’t met John Cirillo.

The phrase “A dog is a man’s best friend” has roots in multiple sources, with early recorded instances from King Frederick II of Prussia and the philosopher Voltaire. It was popularized in the United States by lawyer George Graham Vest in an 1869 court case and later by poet Ogden Nash in his 1941 poem, “An introduction to Dogs.”

King Frederick II of Prussia: Widely credited with the first recorded use of the term in the 1700s, referring to his Italian Greyhound.

Voltaire: Used a related phrase in his “Dictionnaire philosophique” in 1764

George Graham Vest: In his 1869 closing argument in the Old Drum dog trial, he stated, “The one absolute, unselfish friend that man can have in his selfish wo

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