If you have ever met me in person or followed me on social media, you probably know that there is a small white dog living in my house. We named him Winter when we brought him home from a breeder 12 years ago. As a Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel and Poodle) puppy, we all expected him to be a very smart boy. Sadly, this has not turned out to be the case. I would classify him as average intelligence at best, maybe even a little bit below. Nonetheless, he is still one of my very best friends because that's what love is.

When I am in my house, it's hard to ever feel lonely. He will lie next to my desk when I'm doing homework and will follow me around whenever I get up and leave. I will not let him follow me into the bathroom, but that does not prevent him from laying down next to the door and patiently waiting for me to come back out. He will accompany me on every outdoor walk and run, and that kind of makes up for the fact that he can't fetch a ball 100% of the time yet.

He has very thick curly fur that has a habit of covering his eyes and obscuring his vision. Unfortunately, he is also very afraid of me bringing scissors anywhere near his face. This results in a long session of me reassuring and pleading with him and him cowering and covering his face with his paws. The upside of this scenario that is traumatic for the both of us is that the second I put the scissors away, he forgets about everything that just happened and becomes my best friend again.

Doing tricks consistently is not his forte, but there are a few that he can nail almost every time. He can sit quite nicely and can give a paw when he isn't too excited. When I pretend to hold a treat in my hand for him, he will almost always dance for it. If he has laser focus and it's a good day, he will sometimes fetch the tennis ball a few times when I throw it for him. Asking him to lie down or to roll over is futile because he doesn't ever remember what is expected of him, and will always stand up and move closer so that he can be pet.

My family frequently gets annoyed with him for his excessive barking and his tendency to not perform tricks, but taking care of him and loving him no matter what was what we signed up for when we adopted him. As I'm writing this article, I haven't seen him for three days. I miss him a lot but am hoping that he doesn't notice that I'm absent and get sad. I know that he forgets a lot of things due to his age and nature, but I am praying that he doesn't forget about me.