A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down.

Benchley’s line is a comic twist on the sentimental tradition of praising dogs as moral educators. He begins with earnest virtues—fidelity and perseverance—then punctures the uplift with an absurdly literal “lesson” drawn from canine habit: circling before lying down. The joke suggests that humans project lofty meanings onto animal companionship, while the actual instruction we receive is often mundane, behavioral, and accidental. At the same time, the quip affectionately acknowledges how closely boys (and people generally) observe and imitate their dogs, turning everyday routines into “teachings.”