I am not afraid to say I love my dog more than I love most people. My dog Louis has never let me down, except when he chewed on my favorite shoes, when he was four months old, but that doesn't count. My dog might be an obnoxious one year old that barks at the walls and chews on my shoes on occasion, but I wouldn’t want anyone else to do those things but him.

When I come home after not being there for weeks at a time, I am still the only thing he is excited to see walk through that door. He doesn’t remember time or the seasons changing. All he truly cares about is the fact that my face came through that door, and I am petting him and giving him a treat.

It amazes me how when I’m sad or I’m happy or I’m just not in the mood for human interaction whatsoever, my dog knows. He’ll snuggle up next to me and just lay his head into my lap and just love me to pieces until he thinks I’m okay, because even though there are a million other things on my brain at that moment in time, I am the only thing on his.

Even though he can’t actually get into my hammock without falling on his butt he still tries and fails, but I think he might find it just as funny as me, or when he runs around the back yard in circles but somehow always winds up right in my lap.

I think it’s weird when people say they don’t have a dog or they aren’t dog people, because in all honesty how could you not be a dog person? I can think back to when I got my Kent State acceptance letter as I was running through my house with my dog just enjoying it all with me, or the time I was way too sad for mankind and my dog was right by my side through it all.

My dog doesn’t nag me, he does on occasion bark back though, but he always listens and never interrupts. He always lends a helping paw, or even thinks he’s a lap dog and will sit right on top of me. But he also always lets me take his picture, bring him places with me when he’d rather be sleeping, dress him up in silly clothing that truly does make him more cute, but most importantly he loves me. He looks after my dad when I’m not there and he truly is a part of the family.

A dog not only becomes your best friend or in my case my dad’s best friend but he becomes family. Now my dad will not leave the house without our dog, brings him to get ice cream or go to the cemetery, or just a car ride down the street. I think that when your dog becomes your family and your best friend that’s how you know that you have something worth losing, because your dog cares about you and you only, not the gossip down the street or what he’s going to eat for lunch and if his coat matches his paws, you are all that your dog has, and I think we forget that sometimes.

For myself, having a dog changed my whole life, and it not only changed mine but it gave my dad his back. He's not just my best friend but he's my dads best friend. Having a dog can change your life for the better, and if you arent a dog person I highly suggest trying to find out what you are missing out on.