the gift of a dog

Dogs are angels. Human's best friend. Dog is god spelled backwards. It makes sense. Dogs love us as we are. Not who we want to be. Dogs love us unconditionally. Dogs do not care what we look like, how much money we make, or what our jobs are. Dogs just want to spend time with us.

I have learned more from my dog than probably any human. Patience. Sometimes dogs want to sniff in one spot for a very long time. I cannot see what she is smelling. But it is clear that it must be good. And I must wait a little. Sometimes I am in a rush to get to lab, but she does not care. She smells the roses regardless of how 'busy' I think I am. This forces me to slow down. At first I was resentful of how much time taking care of a dog took. At least a challenging, high energy dog that has lots of demands. But now I would not trade it for anything.

Dogs have quirks. The way she sighs. The way she won't drink out of the water bowl but loves puddles that form on the curb. The way she uses her nose to lift up the covers and sleeps underneath the covers. The way she wakes up at the same time every day starving for breakfast. The way she eats the cardboard out of the middle of the toilet paper roll. The way she barks at Amazon, UPS, and Fedex but not trucks that are almost identical besides the logo. The way she is scared of skateboards, scooters, and e-bikes. The quirks add up. Sometimes they make things more difficult. But all in all, she is who she is. She is always unapologetically herself. As I write this, some toxic gas has escaped her. What can you do? They are too cute.

Dogs bring people together. The majority of the friends we have met as adults that do not involve sports are 100% dog related. Dog walking connects you to your neighborhood.

This was a lot of rambling. I am having trouble actually putting into words the way I feel about this. I guess her eyes are just so soulful. I wish we understood consciousness more. But mostly I am just grateful that I have something so cute and positive to come home each day. I hope I can continue to give her the love and attention she deserves.