I love walking my dog around a college campus near where I live.

As somebody who lived at a residential school for a year, I understand the struggle of not being able to see my puppies every day. What astonishes me, however, is the number of people who walk right past me and do not even say hi to my dog.

A decent amount of the total people look and maybe smile at him, but on a good day, I get stopped by three small groups of people and only those people. I do not know what goes on in their lives. I do not know if they do not like dogs, if they are allergic to them, or if they are not stressed out college students, which is contradictory to attending college.

However, I highly doubt 100 people would be allergic, entirely stress-free, or not have a liking for dogs.

I do not understand how somebody can ignore a cute, sweet, soft, gigantic yet skinny dog who loves giving kisses. I walk my dog around the campus because I want people to pet him and to receive his kisses. Even though he is not always in the mood for being pet or is distracted by a squirrel in a tree, the mere sighting of a beautiful yellow lab is utterly refreshing.

It reminds students that there is a world outside the college bubble, that dogs still exist, that there are good things about college aside from a good grade on an exam or in a particular class. I also use my dog in hopes that people will love him so much that they want to be my friend.

I want you to pet my dog because he is the love of my life, and I want to show him off to the entire world. It honestly breaks my heart when people weakly smile at him and me while they keep walking to their destination without saying one word. I know you want to pet him.

Neither of us bites. Why don’t you just ask to pet him? It is not that big of a deal.

I realize I am socially awkward, but he isn’t. In fact, he is the most outgoing, friendly living being I have ever encountered in my entire life. He does not always listen, but that is okay because he is soft and full of kisses to give to people. Sure, his breath does not smell terrific, but he will take your stress levels from through the roof to hardly noticeable by the mere sight of those big eyes with natural eyeliner.

I remember one time, a student asked if he could pet my pooch; I naturally said yes. He came running to Boomer, and Boom started kissing the student's face. It was so sweet to watch. There was another time when a student was riding her bike. She practically jumped off it, threw it down, and asked to pet him.

I realize some students ask every dog walker if they can pet the puppy, and that was me when I was at my previous institution, but the majority of students just kind of look at my dog. Dogs are great, and I realize people think their dogs are the best dogs ever, and I feel that way about my dog, but that is no reason to ignore my innocent puppy. Please pet him. He is cute, and so am I. He loves you.