You could let them loose, and they would find their way home. You could throw something far away and they would cross rivers to retrieve it for you. They protect you, they keep you and they love you. While a dog may only play a small role in your life, to them you are their entire life.
If you are lucky enough to have had the opportunity of raising a dog from birth, I applaud you. Raising a puppy can be a large and daunting task. For some reason your parents let you get one in your elementary age years. You learn a lot about what it means to care for something else even though you can barely take care of yourself. However, your parents trusted you enough to endow you with a living animal that would require your attention and your love. The connection that would eventually be made between you and your new puppy is priceless. From the moment you pick them up you are overwhelmed with a grand amount of responsibility for another living and breathing being. You are now responsible for raising this animal and that endowment should not be taken lightly or for granted.
In my formative years, there were many things that were constantly changing. Coming home from grade school was always tricky. As a child, I couldn’t really grasp the concept of my mom or dad having a bad day at work. I didn’t know what “work” was and as a kindergarten student. A bad day to me was someone not letting me on the swings during recess. However, the one thing that I know I could count on was my dog waiting for me outside excitedly wagging his tail as I approached the front door.
As a puppy, your little ball of joy runs around yapping and bumping into walls. You chase them around all day with a camera in hand because everything they do is new and exciting and the joy that they ensue is magical in your little kid eyes. While they may annoy you at first you soon realize that your laughter cheers them on, and they continue to goof around because they will do anything to make you happy. Eventually, you get to a point when you have to train them. Training them is an absolute chore. They continuously go all over the house and at this stage, your parents threaten you with getting rid of them if you don’t train them to go outside. Sadly, you comply with your parent’s demands because the bond you’ve created with your friend is unbreakable and the thought of getting rid of them is too much for your brain to handle.
The years pass by and your dog is in their adult years. You’re in high school, and the amount of free time that you have slowly diminishes. You begin to spend less and less time with your longtime friend and while they never become a burden, the time you used to set aside for them is now set aside for homework and your social life. While it may become harder and harder to spend significant quality time with your hearty companion, always remember that they have all the time in the world for you.
Even when you come home from college after a year, your dog is that special someone who will be able to pick up exactly where you last left off.
Spend more time with your childhood companion. Their life is much shorter than yours, but the love and joy that they bring to your life is not.
