After my beloved goldfish, Dorothy, died at a remarkable age of eight years old, (yes, I do know that sounds far-fetched, but it is true), my parents, grandmother and I began to the search for a dog.

Every Saturday morning without fail, I would sit on the couch in the living room and consider which breed I wanted the most. I loved the sheepdogs, I loved the Malteses, but most of all, I loved the West Highland White Terriers, or the Westies. A devout fan of American Girl, I was familiar with Coconut, their mascot. One Saturday, I saw a peppy little Westie jogging along and I was certain that this was the dog for my family and me.

On my ninth birthday, we somehow decided after our trip to Ruby Tuesday that we would get my Westie. I danced around with jovial anticipation, prepared for the day I had been waiting for. We drove along Route 22 and came across the Shake-a-Paw pet store. Little did I know that we were not walking out with the Westie I had dreamed of.

One of the first dogs we came across was a striking, colorful ball of fluff called a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier who, oddly enough, shared my grandmother’s birthday. “It’s a sign! We should get her,” my grandmother had declared. Aside from her conviction, the puppy was quite adorable, despite her affinity for biting my mother’s watch, but such things were overlooked and she was ours within an hour.

Twelve years have gone by and Ginger is a key part of our lives. People who are not dog lovers sometimes will scoff at the idea that we value her as much as we do. “She has to come on vacation with us; is that restaurant dog-friendly? Oh, look at her, she wants to go in the car!” we are likely to say. I came across a Facebook post yesterday that said, ‘Even if we don’t talk, post a picture of your dog’. Within moments, the comment section was flooded with pictures of dogs of all different shapes and sizes. People commented to one another, saying, ‘Ohhh, I can’t deal with your dog, you made my day!’

In a world like the one we have today, we need dogs to brighten our lives. If you look into their eyes, you see that all they want to do is make people happy, which is as pure as it a bit sad. The reason my family and I chose Ginger over any Westie in the pet shop is how spirited and loving she was from the very beginning. The kind of love that dogs give is far different from any way that a human does or can and we should show them that we feel the same way.