Dogs are special creatures.

We as humans have the immense privilege of being allowed to live our lives alongside these sweet animals, but we take this for granted many times. However, I am not going to go on a rant about how people don't appreciate the dogs in their lives. Rather, I am going to reflect on "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of being a dog owner.

When a human makes the decision to get a dog, their whole life changes. Many of these changes are very positive, but I would be lying if I said that there weren't a few negative changes that come with these adorable animals entering our lives.

The Ugly

When I picked this title, I meant for it to come across very, very literally.

Dogs are the number one way to make sure that your home, your clothes, and anything else within their reach becomes an uglier version of what it previously looked like.

Dogs sincerely enjoy tearing into anything and everything that they can get their teeth into. When I first got my little dog, Darcy, my house went from freshly painted and redone to scratches on the walls, wood chips on the floor, and paint missing from the floor boards.

Not only did my house take a hit when Darcy moved in, but my shoes and chargers may have gotten the worst of her storm. Let's just say that it only took me finding one pair of beloved shoes chewed up and a chewed up and useless phone charger for me to learn that I had officially lost the ability to leave things lying around my house.

The Bad

For this category, I was unable to choose only one aspect of owning a dog, so I decided to talk about both.

The amount of noise that dogs are able to produce is maddening. Sometimes I look at my 8 pound dog and wonder just how such a small animal can produce such a large amount of noise.

To be a dog owner, you have to be ready for ear-splitting levels of barking and growling...especially when friendly faces come to the door.

The noise is definitely not great, but the mess that comes with owning a dog is unbelievable.

Who knew that these adorable, fuzzy, little animals can bring such a mess into your life. I have never had to clean my floors so often in my entire life. It's as if crumbs just continue to magically appear on my floors, no matter how fast I vacuum them up. It's absolutely insane.

The Good

By reading this article so far, you may think that I'm not a huge fan of dogs. If you think this, however, you would be wrong.

The good things completely out-weigh the bad when it comes to dogs. There are many things that I could list under what makes having a dog so great, but I think one reason stands out among the rest.

The amount of love and loyalty that dogs give to their owners is amazing. There is no other source of forgiveness and devotion quite like what comes from a dog.

There is no greater comfort than that of having the big eyes of your dog looking up at you when you walk through the door, wagging their tail to show you how happy they are to see you.

My heart has truly grown since taking Darcy into my home, and yours can too if you let yourself love an animal.

"Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France