Dogs

Life can be tough. On any given day you can face adversity on many different levels. Be it family, work, society, etc, there are countless things that can find a way to mess with you.

One thing that helps me get through each day is my dog, Freese. I work from home so he is a constant companion who is always there for me and never judges. He is always happy to see me and no matter what kind of day I am having he still wants to be around me.

He is also the reason I get out of bed in the morning even if I would rather shut the world out for the day. He needs me to feed and walk him so I get out of bed and get my day going. Without him I would not have any need to get out of day and meet the day. Freese is the reason I exercise too. He loves to walk and because of him I get outside. Being outside helps my mental state and definitely assists in getting me out of my lazy, negative thinking. He is 100% dependent on me and helps set my priorities. No matter the amount of stress I feel at work or the amount of anxiety I may have about life he is there and needs me to be there for him.

His love is also unconditional. He doesn't care that I am short or that I struggle in social situations. He is always happy to see me and is by my side no matter where I go in the house. Playing ball with him or giving him a belly rub is a great stress reliever. He is has also a great distraction when it comes to my abstinence from gambling. When I would gamble long hours into the night he would always jump out of bed to sleep on floor because I was on my computer or just generally stressed out over losing so much money. Now that I am not gambling, he stays in bed and is a very good cuddler. It makes me feel good when I can pet him while trying to fall asleep rather then falling asleep after hours of pissing money away.

I have never known life without of a dog. I grew up with no less then two dogs always around. Dogs can teach compassion, love, responsibility and constant other traits that you can use in life. I know dogs have taught me to be more sensitive and to care not only about animals but people too. I cannot tell you how many of my pictures include my dog. Some of my greatest memories involve my dogs. I also believe my love dogs strengthened my relationship with my mom. She taught me how important dogs can be to someone who might be suffering through things other kids were not growing up. It was during our daily dog walks that I was able to confide in her the issues I was having growing up. We definitely bonded over dogs and I believe I would not care about others nearly as much if my mom had not instilled a love in dogs with me at an early age. One of my best memories is when we had first adopted our dog McGraw (who has since sadly passed away) while I was in high school. The first night we had him he was so excited to have a family he ran around the yard and house all day. At the end of the day he was so tired my mom and I had to push him down the hallway and carry him up the stairs to bed. We still laugh about that to this day because that was McGraw and a nutshell, so much fun but also such a big baby. McGraw also cared deeply about his people. He knew when I was not doing good mentally and would come over and lay on top of me. I honestly do not know where I would be without dogs.

For me my dog has been there through thick and thin and I cannot imagine my life without my dog.