Dog lovers will be the first to tell you that there are many ways that dogs make our lives better. We can attest to this from personal experience.
Growing up, I was never allowed to have any pets. Every Christmas, I’d ask Santa Claus for a white kitten. You know, the kind from the toilet paper commercial! I always wanted a blue-eyed, white, long-haired kitten. Every year, Santa would not deliver.
My mom kept telling me it was because I was allergic to cats and dogs, and Santa knew that. It’s true. I did have an allergy to cat and dog dander. However, the allergy prick/scratch test also showed that I was allergic to dust, mold, and cigarette smoke, yet my parents still smoked.
Anyway, long story short, I’ve always wanted a kitten or a puppy. I did eventually get my own puppy…when I moved out of my parents’ home!
Chance was my baby long before I had a baby of my own. Chance is the reason my Twitter handle is @chancesmommy. He was my very first “baby”.
Sadly, he passed away last year. When I think of Chance, I think of all the ways dogs make our lives better.
10 ways dogs make our lives better
Though I am positive that there are many other ways dogs make our lives better, here are my top ten!
- Dogs give us unconditional love – Our favourite canines live to please us and be with us.
- Dogs help keep us active (by going out for daily walks and playing outside)
- Dogs bring out the big kids in us with their entertainment and goofiness (they make us laugh)
- Dogs are our protectors
- Dogs provide companionship
- Dogs can help calm you down when you are stressed
- Dogs help connect us with people we may not have otherwise met
- Dogs can help family members connect – Think about the relationship your kids have with their pet(s). I know in our family, our pup, Cupcake brings us closer. We enjoy spending time all together taking Cupcake for a swim at the lake or for a hike.
- Dogs are great motivators – They give us a reason to get out of bed every morning or go for a walk/jog/run every day. We have to come home every evening too, because we need to let them out, feed them, walk them, play with them, love them.
- Dogs help us appreciate the simple things in life
When Chance was 11 years old, we brought Cupcake into our home.
The new pup learned a lot from our older dog. They were buddies and were inseparable. Cupcake felt the loss just as much as we did when Chance passed away.
One this is sure — Pets teach you as much (if not more) than we teach them. They enrich our lives in ways I could never have imagined. In return, they require our love, attention, and care.
Our family shows our love, attention, care for our dog through making sure she is healthy and well-fed, receives the care she needs, and lots of affection through play and quality time together.
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- How to Keep Your Dog’s Teeth Healthy
- Mealtime Routines for Pets
- Special Moments Shared with Pets
- Caring for a Three-Legged Dog
Can you think of other ways dogs make our lives better?
Disclosure – This post contains links from past posts that have been written in collaboration with Purina Canada as part of the #PurinaPetPeople ambassador program. All thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog are honest and my own.
I actually have never had a dog! growing up, we had cats so I never got to experience what it was like to have a dog. My husband was always a dog person so I told him the next fur baby we will get will be a puppy but that will be when my daughter is old enough to help take care of it