Why I Love (and Am Thankful For) My Dog

[Jasslyn]

I love Flynn because:

- he loves to learn and work for me. He takes great joy in both learning new tricks and then showing them off. He works out which tricks get the best response and when in doubt (or trouble) performs those tricks.

- he is a great role model for Jasper. Jasper is a great, well behaved dog and I think Flynn played a huge part in making this happen.... when I was doing the softly-softly-redirect approach to undesirable behaviour, Flynn would just grab Jas by the scruff of his neck or his ear and lead him away from whatever he was doing wrong with a small growl. Flynn still makes sure that Jasper is behaving but without being rough.

- he is protective of me and I feel safe with him around.

- he loves me.

- when he wakes up in the morning he sits by my bed staring at me until I open my eyes and then he wags his tail.

- he has never given up on me, even though there have been times I've wanted to give up on him.

- when he's in trouble and I'm telling him off, he wags his tail at me. It makes it hard to stay mad at him.

I love Jasper because:

- he is the complete opposite of Flynn. Flynn never stops running and is highly reactive. Jasper's idea of heavy exercise is changing positions twice in one hour and the most reaction he's likely to show to anything is to open two eyes instead of one.

- he is gentle and peace. Not peaceful, but peace. Hard to explain but when he snuggles into me I know peace and I am calm.

- although he is not the smartest dog on the planet, he has learned how to get the 2 things he wants most in life - snuggles and food.

- since he came to live with me I have not had any tissues accidentally making their way into the washing machine. Nor have I ever forgotten to change the toilet roll or restock the supply in the bathroom. He checks my pockets, ever hopeful for a tissue. And he watches the dwindling supply of toilet paper eagerly waiting for the empty roll.

- although I am not religious, when he is with me I feel blessed beyond belief.

Why I love them both:

- they find joy in such small things and have taught me the same. When I am feeling stressed or sad, I need only watch them playing together to feel better. When I'm happy/excited and want to dance, they are happy to dance and be lunatics with me.

[Boots42]

One of the many reasons I love my baby is because he's the only dog I know that would lie there regally watching a raw steak being thrown at him as a treat (that I managed to convince my mum to give him when we were visiting!) and assume it wouldn't hit him.

He's the only dog I know that after being hit in the face by a flying raw steak, would give a huff of annoyance at the indignity, and then stalk off as we laughed, refusing to eat the steak.

[claireybell]

What I love about my cocker Jesie:

She is gorgeous

She always has a waggy tail

She's been grumpy 5 times in her 4 years of life

She runs like the wind when she off lead

She loves water and watching her splash about is awesome

She never snatches food and is super gentle

She delights in meeting new people and dog

She is the energizer bunny

She loves to spoon with me when OH has gone to work

She adores my son, if he is crying in his cradle she whimpers at the gate until I pick him up and console him

What I love about my beagle x, JoJo:

She's lazy, lol

She loves cuddles more than anything in the world

When she dreams she wags her tail

She is my protector

She'll do anything for food

She cleans up the baby spew off the tiles, ewwwww

She loves my Son

She gets under my doona and wraps around my feet

She is a total lump but gets on my lap for cuddles anyway

And I love them both for getting me through a bad break up and then accepting my husband and our baby

Edited December 30, 2011 by claireybell