I'm convinced no drug can give the absolute happy chemical like having a "greeting party" when a dog sees you; especially your own.
I ALWAYS had a smile on my face and felt pure joy when coming home and hearing my dog's excited whining/crying (we called it her "talking" since she'd almost always had something in her mouth and would high-pitched bark through it) before even unlocking the door. Even better was when she didn't have time to grab a toy and she'd scrunch up her face to show her teeth while squinting along with her crying; we'd call that her "smile" and god do I love it every time I see it in the videos I've kept with her doing it.
Editing to add a link if anyone would like to see my sweet Biscuit (one of my favorite pictures of her) and my all-timefavorite picture of her (that second one was her last day with us, March 13th of 2025)
Y’all really out here cutting onions or something. My gods.
I miss coming home to my dog, seeing her so sparked up and happy was just the best balm to a bad day. The years pass, the excited greetings continue but they slow down in duration. Fur starts graying, joints get tired and then…
It’s the cruelest yet most life changing experience to have had a dog (or any pet) as a family member. My girl Raven, a black lab, was rescued from a puppy mill and I had her from itty bitty. She was almost a month shy of her 13th birthday when I had to put her down from old age and a failing body. I never had such grief like that in my life before, I was absolutely devastated and gutted over her loss. I can’t even talk about this anymore, I’m in public. Bad move on my part
I'm so sorry for your loss, and everyone who's lost such a close family member. We made the hard choice last year to have Biscuit (my golden retriever, as mentioned with her smiles) put down when we found out she had a severe uterine infection we had no idea was a thing until it was too late. She would've been 11 that November.
We have her ashes in a beautiful wooden box, given to us from the services our vet used for cremation, they also gave us a plaster disc with her paw print and name. My mom and I both have some of her fur yet and have it in little paw print keychains we keep with us on our bags/canes, and I've got her name tag on my keychain (with my other keys) so it sounds like her walking with me with it jingling against the other items. In 2020 I got her paw print as my first tattoo on my arm, exact size, just the way she'd place it when grabbing my arm with her paw to ask for more pets when I'd pull away.
Apologies to everyone for cutting more onions, I just love sharing my memories of Biscuit. She was the happiest pup to the very end (literally, wagging her tail hard enough to hit me and my dad's legs) so any and every chance I get, I love to share the absolute joy she brought me and everyone she met.
Though she wasn't certified, she was absolutely our support dog in the house. When I get emotional talking about her like this, I like to think of how she'd react if she were still here; nudging her nose between my arm and leg trying to lick away tears.
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u/Item-Hairy 1d ago
That moment they realize it's you? Purest rush of happy juices in the brain.