Because Dog Loves You.

There's a reason that Dog is the backwards of God: it has everything to do with unconditional love. All the other animals have conditions. Especially cats. But dogs are faithful to a fault. They love the bad masters, the selfish owners, the lazy owners, the immature owners, the ignorant owners. They don't just love them, they adore them. Even when it hurts. 

Dogs are happy with their owners all the time, every day, every moment. If the owner is feeling self-pity, dog still loves. If the owner is mourning, dog still loves. If the owner made a huge mistake, dog is still there wagging and laughing at life. If owner failed miserably, dog says, "let's play!" 

Yet dogs are still sensitive. They respond to tears with love, no matter who is crying or why. 

Dogs know love. Love, that thing that sees imperfections and loves the imperfections. Your dog will tell you when your being an idiot, one way or another, but Dog won't judge you harshly or love you less. Dog never gets angry. All those annoying selfish habits you have that other people just can't stand, Dog sees through them to the real you. That's love.

Dog never says, "Let's take a break." Dog never says, "You're too much. Go away." Even when you are too much, even when you're doing everything wrong. Yes, if you're imbalanced, Dog will be imbalanced, but Dog never loves you less or ceases to love the good parts of you because of the bad parts.

And the silly things you do? The things that don't make sense to other people? The ticks you have, the disorders, the tendencies, the "issues," Dog doesn't let them get in the way of life: Fun, Food, and Sleep. 

See, that's the thing. Dog knows what life is, even when you don't. Life is fun, food, and sleep. It's not parties or drinks or FB friends, it's moving your body the way it was meant to move. It's not the cost of your car, it's where it takes you. It's not your a job or not having a job, it's about living every moment and having fun with whatever the moment brings us. 

And then sleep. There's always sleep. Dog knows that those hours of re-charge are a huge part of life. Humans treat sleep like the enemy, seeing how much they can avoid it, purging and bingeing on sleep. But dogs know that tiredness is a sign: sleep. And that sleep is an ally. All the good things come after sleep: exercise and fun and food. Dogs know that waking up is the other best part of the day! Then the fun begins!

Silliness: People forget that it's okay. They're embarrassed. Partly because everyone has a different definition of silly. But Dog knows that "silly" is whatever you do that doesn't make logical sense. And they embrace it completely. 

Then there's service. Dog is self-sacrificing, but in a way that doesn't feel life sacrifice at all. They don't play the martyr role. When Dog has to do something for you, Dog does it whole heartedly. Dog sees how fun your idea was! Dog is happy and eager to do whatever pointless drudgery you have set out upon. And Dog WANTS to. Because Dog Loves You. 

And that's the beauty of it. That's why humans have to live ten times longer than dogs: it takes us that much longer to learn how to love. We love you, Dogs, thanks for teaching us how to love unconditionally.