It's a beautiful fall afternoon, and the new foliage has made the New Hampshire air fresh and crisp. A man takes his dog's leash of the hook on the back of the laundry room door, and with a little jingle the dog comes running out of the living room right to the man's feet. He clips the leash, and the dog is all over him until they get outside. They make for the path that starts in his backyard, but knows no end. As they get deep into the tunnel of reds, oranges, and yellows, the path they are walking on turns around the corner of a big rock, and into to a huge black bear. The man in his red flannel shirt and North Face vest freezes and the bear bats him to the ground with his paw. At this, the 70 pound dog charges at the massive bear and again the bear raises his mighty paw to knock the dog up against a tree, and unconscious. After about an hour, the dog comes around to find his owner is laying dead in a pile of dried up leaves. The dog stands up with a bit of a limp, and makes his way over to his owner. He nudges him behind the elbow as if he wants the dead man to pet him. When there's no reaction from the man, he circles around once, lies up against the man's cold side, and closes his eyes. There are three parts to the definition of loyalty, and this dog displays all of them. The first part of the definition is unconditional love. As soon as the dog knew what the man wanted to do, he was at his feet. The second part of the definition is giving up rational thought and representing whoever or whatever you"re loyal to. Not only was it obvious that the dog had no chance against the bear, but he also could have easily ran to safety. The last part of the definition is the willingness to lie down and die for someone or something. The dog could have found his way back home, but he didn't want the home without his life long companion. The first part of Loyalty is easy to understand; unconditional love.