I grew up in a home with two dogs, and I absolutely loved them. About three months after I got married I went to pick up my future best friend and my life was completely changed. I picked up a tiny, sweet, brown puppy from an old farm town in Missouri and as I drove away with him, I was already taking a million pictures because I knew how precious he would be to my life.

I drove that sleepy puppy home, gave him a bath and my husband and I just stared at him while he slept. And that my friends is how our beautiful friendship began. We named him “Jethro” or “Jet” for short, and yes we picked it because of NCIS. Although I grew up with dogs, it's completely different when you have a puppy of your own, and when that puppy is your absolute best bud, you do some crazy things.

1. You take an insane amount of pictures of your dog.

My phone is completely out of storage because of the mass quantities of pictures I have, mostly of Jet. If you were to casually scroll through my camera roll you’d see something like this: puppy, husband, funny meme, puppy, puppy, puppy...you get where I’m going with this. I love taking pictures of Jet.

I plan our family pictures around how we can pose him, and I totally buy him funny hats and sweaters to wear in all our crazy pictures. He may hate me for it, but he always keeps them on for the pictures. In fact, for Halloween this year, I ordered him a Spider-Man costume just to see him wear it around and get sweet pictures to cherish forever, because that’s what best friends do, right?

2. You *might* cancel your plans in order to spend some quality time with your dog.

It’s not that you don’t want to go out and enjoy time with your friends, but look at that face. You just cannot get enough of it. You have to take your pup to the park to play, and then to the store to pick out new toys and new treats, and sometimes you even need to take them on your morning coffee run to Starbucks. There’s just so much to do and so little time in the day.

And of course, you have to get plenty of selfies in with your best friend to make sure your day is well documented. What would a day with your dog be without pictures? Nothing, it would be nothing.

3. You’re okay with being late in order to get a few extra furry cuddles.

My husband works really odd hours, so he’s usually up and getting ready for work at 2am, sometimes earlier. As soon as he gets up, my dog makes his way up to the previously occupied warm spot on the bed and cuddles up right next to me. I’m already not a morning person and I usually have to set about five alarms every day, so when I open my eyes and my puppy is cozied up right beside me, I stay in bed a little longer than I should because I just need those extra puppy cuddles.

It’s not just at night either. Any time my puppy needs some extra attention, I’ll pretty much drop every thing I’m doing to give it to him. If you have a dog, then you know exactly what I’m talking about, and those cuddles are totally worth being five minutes late for work.

4. You find yourself talking to your dog...a lot.

Honestly, I make fun of my Dad, because he talks to his dog all the time, almost a weird amount. Sometimes I think he’s talking to me and he’s actually talking to his dog; it’s pretty funny, and slightly concerning. As much as I make fun of my Dad, I actually talk to Jet a lot. When I’m home alone I talk to him, if I’m really upset about something I talk to him, and if I’m in the kitchen I’m always talking to my dog. I can’t help it, he’s my best friend, and those sweet eyes for sure let me know he’s listening. If your dog is your best friend, odds are you do it too, because who could be a better listener?

5. You consider your dog your actual child.

Personally, I have a “Dog Mom” bumper sticker, cup and t-shirt. I own the fact that Jet isn’t just my dog and my best friend, but that he’s my baby. I always look for special treats or prizes for him, I miss him like crazy while I’m gone and I show his picture to any one who will look.

I may be a little overly obsessed with my dog, but there’s no shame in that. He is an incredible addition to my life. If your dog is your best friend, you probably do a few of these things, maybe all of them, and that’s totally okay. Dogs make our lives so much sweeter and we should embrace it!