When a dog loves you...
I watched this movie today, and while i felt it got cheesy at times, i felt it portrayed the special relationship one can form with a dog very well. I grew up with a half german ahepard half golden retriever named Cody and he was the best dog i've ever known. We did not formally train him, but he understood and listened to every command of like a pro.
The story my parents always tell me is that we went to a shelter when i was two to adopt a dog. I could barely walk, so my balance was not that great. Cody was only 8 weeks old, so he was still very small. They opened his cage and he ran up and tackled me and started licking my face. My parents said i couldnt stop laughing, so they knew he was the dog for us.
When my brother was 8 and i was 4 he had an accident on his bike a few blocks away and busted his jaw pretty bad. We were out in the backyard and cody started going nuts trying to get out of the gate, which he never did before. A few minutes later a neighbor knocked on the door and told us about my brothers accident. Cody didnt stop freaking out until my brother got home from the hospital and then he wouldnt leave my brothers side until the next morning. We knew he somehow knew my brother was hurt and was trying to get to him.
A few years later, I came down with pneumonia really bad. Cody basically stayed next to me for two weeks until I felt better.
He was the kind of dog everyone told us they wished they could have because he was calm, friendly, peotective of his family and extremely well behaved. He never begged for table scraps, but he would sit nearby when we ate in case we decided to throw him a bite, which I often did behind my parents back. He only ever barked when it was necessary, so he was a favorite among our neighbors. The one time we left the gate open by accident, he just stayes in the backyard without ever attempting to run away.
He lived until he was 15 and when he finally passed, every member of my family cried. I have lost friends and family, and losing Cody hurt just as much as losing any of them because he was both a friend and a member of our family. I had a few dogs since him, and i loved them all very much, but there was something special about Cody that will always stay with me.
Even my grandmother, who loved cats and usually disliked dogs loved him because he was so gentle and caring. I'm tearing up a little writing this because he was so special.
I will end with this, if you have a dog, make sure you show them how much you love them every day because it will be one of the best relationships you ever have.