How My Dog Taught Me to Play Again

One of my favorite things about dogs is their complete disregard for what’s appropriate. They simply do what they want to do regardless of what else is going on. I don’t mean misbehaving. I mean the simple ways they express joy and desire without reservation. Dogs have no sense of discretion. If humans behaved that way we’d perceive it as rude, but in dogs it’s endearing because it’s so pure. There is no malice, only an incredible openness about their needs.

My dog Freckles is the queen of expressing her needs. If she wants to be on your lap, she puts herself there. If there’s a laptop in the way, so be it; she doesn’t mind laying a paw or an ear on the keyboard. If she wants to take a nap and the coffee table looks comfy, she climbs onto the coffee table, completely forgetting that she’s scared to jump down and will be stuck there until someone saves her.

And if she wants to play, she plays.

Look at those faces! They’re basically designed to be cute so you can’t resist. And I’m glad, because Freckles (and her new cousin Ollie!) will not let me take myself seriously for too long. As I type this very sentence, she is placing her stuffed Grinch on my lap in a not-so-subtle “play with me!” gesture.

Even more importantly, it makes her happy. Which then makes me happy all over again.

Nothing compares to the love of a dog. That pure, unadulterated joy that exudes from a bouncy body, waggly tail, ears blowing in the wind as they sprint back and forth in your apartment as fast as they can simply because they have more happy energy than they know what to do with.

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