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“And God said, I will send them without wings so that no one suspects they are angels.”

I believe that dogs are sent to us straight from God as guides or protectors of our souls, but no matter your religion or what you believe, I think it is safe to say, we all believe they are a blessing to us in this life.

This video was a long one, and it took me a while to make, but I loved the audio and I couldn’t agree more with its words. Dogs WERE sent for something bigger. They were sent to walk with us here a while, to help guide us quietly back to ourselves, to teach us empathy, unconditional love and loyalty, and to show us how to live and be present in a world full of distractions.

They read the silence between our words, they feel the tears we don’t cry and they celebrate the simple joys we often barely notice. Where we use language, dogs use love. When they look at us, they feel us. A world without them, for me, would be empty. I need them to look after me.

How about you?

The world would be a much better place if we were all a little bit more like dogs! Amiright? ❤️

“Dogs are masters of creating emotionally safe space just by being themselves. ... it is as if something deep within our souls resonates with their energy, their unwavering unconditional love and unbridled joy to be in our presence, their undivided loyalty, and complete trust in us. Dogs make us feel special, and teach us by example to relish simple pleasures and live totally in the moment. They teach us there is only now and only who you are, who you are with, and what you are doing right then – and what could be better than to sniff the wind and be in the company of those you love?” Val Silver

For me, there is no better teacher or friend to me than my dogs, and I just pray that they know how much I appreciate them!!

There are versions of me that only exist because I was, and still am, loved by them.

None of them were, are or will ever be “just a dog.” Every one of my dogs arrived in different seasons of my life, but every one of them changed the way I love, the way I trust and the way I see the world.

People say we rescue dogs, but I think they’ve rescued pieces of us we didn’t even know were missing.

They’ve been there for me in the ordinary moments no one else remembers. The quiet mornings, the tears, the victories that felt too small to celebrate, the days when simply getting out of bed felt impossible for one reason or another. They loved every version of me without asking me to become someone else.

And when they leave, they don’t take that love with them. They leave it behind, woven into who we are. I think that’s why the silence feels so loud. That’s why grief reaches so deep. We’re not just missing them, we’re learning how to exist without a heartbeat that became part of our own.

I’ve never had “just a dog.” I’ve had soulmates that have never spoken a word to me but have somehow said everything my heart needs to hear. They are pieces of my heart walking outside my body. They are extraordinary lives that forever altered the course of mine.

And if loving them means carrying the weight of missing them for the rest of my life, then I’ll carry it - because what an extraordinary privilege it is to have loved someone so deeply that they never truly leave you. Tonto and Finn took a piece of my heart when they left, and Arlo and Pepper helped me put it back together. My heart is made up of all of them now in different ways.

We all know the inevitable price of loving a dog. We know that one day our hearts will break. And still, I would choose it every single time. Because grief isn’t the opposite of love - it’s the evidence of it.

As this audio says, “…if you are grieving or have grieved a dog, good for you. It’s special. It’s proof.”

My best boy depended on these squares of carpet. And while they may not look the most stylish, I couldn’t care less.

As Arlo ages, I find it more important to make sure we are safeguarding his mobility as much as possible. These rugs are not clutter, they are a lesson from Finn.

When Finn was immobile we starting taking him to a physical therapist therapist in Portland and used to joke that “hardwood floors were her best client.” But there was a lot of truth behind it.

After MONTHS of PT Finn was finally able to use his hind legs again for limited mobility, but only with the help of yoga mats, area rugs and runners.

As dogs age, they naturally lose muscle mass, balance, and joint stability. It’s estimated that 1 in 5 dogs will develop arthritis, and the risk increases significantly as they get older. Even dogs that don’t have arthritis can struggle with decreased strength and confidence on slippery surfaces.

For senior dogs, hardwood, tile and other slick floors can make everyday things like getting up from a nap, walking to the water bowl or following you from room to room feel challenging.

The constant slipping can lead to:
More falls and injuries
Increased joint pain
Less confidence moving around the house
Reduced activity, which can contribute to further muscle loss

One of the simplest changes we’ve made since learning all of this is adding area rugs and runners in our home for our dogs. Better traction means more confidence, safer footing and easier movement throughout the day. It’s a small change that can make a big difference in their comfort and independence short and long term.

If you have a senior dog, or even a middle-aged dog that is starting to slow down, don’t wait until they’re slipping regularly.

Giving them secure footing now can help them stay active longer and I can tell you that from first hand experience!

At some point, you stand at that quiet crossroad: do you get a dog, or do you not get a dog?

Do you play it safe with your heart, or do you let a dog into your life knowing exactly how the story ends?

Because deep down, you know. You know they won’t be here forever, the eyes that look at you like you’re their whole world will one day close, and the goodbye will break you entirely. I have been there. Twice. Loving a dog means choosing a heartbreak that’s already promised. And I will do it again, and again.

Because every second in between rewrites what love even means. The way they feel like home, the way they love you without condition or question. That love is everything.

Yes, losing them will hurt in a way nothing else does. But having their love feels like nothing else, too. Tt’s a kind of love and safety that settles into your soul, a bond so pure and steady that it changes you forever - while they are here, and long after they are gone.

I will always choose a life with dogs. How about you?

Dear Finn, It has been four years since I said goodbye to you. ❤️

Four years since I felt your heartbeat became a memory.

I held your paws for the last time and tried to say everything that mattered before there was no time left to say it. I thanked you for being such a good boy. I told you how much I loved you and that I would never be the same without you. And then I whispered goodbye.

As we laid there, I felt the rhythm of your final breaths, and I tried to match them. When the time came, I exhaled deeply, letting every ounce of air leave my lungs, hoping that somehow it would find its way to yours. I wanted you to arrive in heaven still carrying something of me with you - something that didn’t end at goodbye. The last breath we shared together on earth.

I have spent a lot of time thinking about heaven since losing you. I have no idea what it is really like, but I pray it feels like all the love I’ve lost and all the peace I’ve been searching for since you left. I pray it feels warm, familiar and free from pain.

Here, I wait. I wait for healing. I wait for signs. I wait for dreams. For anything that feels like you reaching back. I live within time, remembering the day you left and feeling the weight of it return each year.

But I pray that where you are, there is no time. No waiting. No counting days or years. No beginnings and no ends.

I pray that in heaven, you don’t know what day it is or how much time has passed. I pray that for you, goodbye was only a moment. And I pray that you’re still carrying a breath of our shared air. Because I am still carrying yours.

I carry it in every memory, every tear and every quiet moment when I look for you and you’re not there. I carry it in the love that never left, in the pieces of you that still live inside me and in the space you carved into my heart that time will never fill.

And maybe that’s what love does. It keeps breathing, even after goodbye.

One day, I’ll take my final breath here and you’ll be taking your first step toward me again. And like says in this audio - I know you’ll come running and we won’t have to hold our breath anymore.