I think she’s had enough bike riding for a while.

“Stop licking! NO.” That’s Angel yelling at our dog, P.S. right now. It stands for Peggy Sue, and that’s the name that she came with. We got her as a retired breeder from Indiana a couple years ago. P.S. has some quirks about her, but overall she’s a great dog. Well, having a dog, to my surprise, totally impacts your life. It did for me, at least. See, I never had a dog growing up. Other than some quick-to-die beta fish, the most that we had was a rabbit. Hazel (as we named her) never really did that much except try to run away whenever we let her out. Despite some annoyances (like the compulsive licking), P.S. does a few things that I try to do myself:

1. Dogs listen to you ramble. Around the time of our wedding, Angel was out of town a lot planning, and P.S. moved in with me. I was stressed with my old job and wedding stuff. P.S. was always there (what, it’s not like she’s going to the store or anywhere) and never seems to mind when I talk about life.

2. Dogs forgive you quickly. P.S., being only a bit taller than my ankles, has had a few accidental kicks from both Angel and me when she nips at our heels. Despite the kick, she always seems to forget about it in less than a minute. Angel and our friend Karen can attest to this, but I enjoy wrestling with our dog. P.S.? Doesn’t enjoy it as much as I do. Even after she gives me her dirty look, she always forgets about it and comes back.

3. Dogs aren’t picky. Listen, any animal that eats its own poop (remember how I said P.S. has some quirks?) doesn’t have discriminating tastes. I think if P.S. could talk, she would tell me that she likes any food, just as long as it’s not spicy. Do I think that it’s good to eat poop? I think that’s way too far (sorry to burst your bubble P.S.), but the idea of being flexible in your expectations is something that I think you can really learn from dogs.

4. Dogs are enthusiastic. You’d think that when I work all day and come home to let P.S. out, she would be pretty angry about that. Well, as I pointed out, she forgives pretty quickly. Not only that, but she gets excited about pretty much anything that I do with her.

5. Dogs continually seek to entertain you. P.S. has this quirk (yes, another one) about wrapping herself in her blanket until she’s a little mummy. When she’s ready to come out, it’s pretty hilarious:

So, that’s my list of 5. Do you have a dog? How do you think we should be more like dogs?