A Dog's Love - Adventure à la Mode

I wasn’t always a dog person. This may be hard to believe now, given that 90% of my social media posts involve one well-known little pup we all call Charlie girl. I grew up a little bit afraid of the canine family. I liked them, but I was, we’ll say, a bit skeptical, definitely not of the “dog person” genre. My mom had been bitten by a dog when she was little, delivering newspapers, and her fear had rubbed off on me. I didn’t have dogs growing up or get what it was all about.

That’s why I surprised myself when in May of 2017, I was all-of-a-sudden dead set on getting a dog. When I told Erin, she seemed a bit surprised, but said, “Ok. Then, let’s find you the perfect dog.” Most of you know the way the story goes; I found Charlie girl. And when I went to look at the litter, she found me too. She made her way over to me and sat all 2 lbs. of herself (if that) in my cross-legged lap.

An impulse, perhaps, or maybe something more. I realize now I was in need of her love just as much as she was in need of a home and I truly do believe God hand-picked this little fluffy girl just for me.

After a long day at work, like clockwork, she runs to the door every day to greet me. She doesn’t give up on jumping until I lower myself to the ground where she can kiss my face and greet me properly. When I’m sick, she doesn’t leave my side. During a bout of the stomach flu, she followed me back and forth to and from the bathroom and rested close by me on the couch in case I got sick again. I’ve never seen such unconditional, constant, unwavering love.

When I’m worried or crying, she stops what she’s doing and runs over to me, kissing my face and licking my tears away. She senses my feelings and it amazes me every time that she knows when I’m upset, even if I’m not showing those feelings visibly. I’ve seen her in the middle of a drink of water just stop and run to my side, placing a paw on my leg and staring up into my eyes.

How foolish am I to think that I just decided one day on my own that I wanted a dog? No, her love is far too perfect for that. At first glance, one may think that I take care of Charlie. I keep her well-fed, take her on walks, play with her, and keep her healthy and groomed. But Charlie, she takes care of me in so many ways too. This little pup was meant for me, a part of my plan.

She never ever lets me stay up late alone. If I’m up working on something, she is too. She cuddles me to sleep, curling up right against me each night. She always is trying to protect us. If we’re on a walk, she walks a little ahead to look out for danger. While we’re at work, she keeps an eye on the house and neighborhood in her window spot. She literally wipes away my tears and kisses away my worries. She is an unexpected blessing in my life. I am so thankful for her every day and especially now, as she sleeps between my legs.

As she sleeps tonight and I watch her little belly rise and fall (which I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to check because I might be crazy), I hope she knows how much I love her. I hope dogs are capable of understanding these things. I guess I never really understood a dog’s love, but Charlie, she’s taught me. She’s taught me so much in the past (almost) two years. I went to school for six years total, all of which I studied education. I thought I knew a lot about it, but it turns out teaching doesn’t always require big words and fancy algorithms. Teaching doesn’t even require words at all. What I’ve learned is that the biggest blessings can come in the smallest and most unexpected packages and a dog’s love is something so overwhelmingly real and powerful that is doesn’t require words either. It can’t be understood until it is felt. And their love is one of the best feelings in the world.