I’ve always loved dogs and my dogs in particular. I’m one of those crazy dog ladies (hence the dog blog), and yet I’m still amazed at the lessons of love my little pooch continues to teach me.

I was watching a sappy movie recently (I also love sappy movies), and one of the lines was, “Love is a gift.” This dog reminds me of this gift every single day. He loves me so much, as I write this he is licking the crumbs of my breakfast off my lap.

He does a lot for me. He comforts me when I’m sad, he starts my day with kisses, and he’s always so happy to see me when I come home that he jumps up as high as he can to kiss me. I know he never meant to give me that bloody lip.

But what I find so interesting in my relationship with him is, he not only shows me how much love he has for me, but he shows me just how much love I have to give. Like when he eats a tub of coconut oil and pukes almost all of his body weight throughout the night and I get up every hour to clean it up all the while comforting him. Or when I wipe the eye boogies out of his eyes with my bare hands and don’t get grossed out. Or when I’m sick and can barely get out of bed, yet I still find the energy to get dressed and take him to his favorite field because he loves to run.

I sacrifice a lot for him, and every bit of my sacrifice is worth it.

I think sometimes we take love for granted. So I’m writing this blog post today to remind us all that love truly is a gift and it works both ways.