Kahlua is an 11-week-old yellow Lab that says a prayer with his favorite human before eating each meal.
One of the best moments in a dog’s life is when they find their favorite human. We always know right away when we find that person because we immediately feel at home no matter where we go. If we are together, we stay happy.
I love hearing my friend’s stories about how they found their favorite person and live happily ever after.
When my friend Foxy was little, she dreamed of finding a boy that would love to cuddle and play. And somewhere near her was a little boy that watched the movie, “The Fox and the Hound” and thought that the perfect dog would be part fox and part hound. Then one day the boy met Foxy, as she became known, and they both just knew that this was it. Foxy’s boy is sure that if they put their heads together and concentrate really hard that they could read each other’s minds. Her boy wants to know why Foxy smells so many things, and Foxy wants to hypnotize the boy into buying more treats.
Sometimes it’s possible to have two favorite people, which can make us feel a little greedy. For a long time, it was just me and my dude friend. We were just a couple of guys hanging out, going to the dog park, and playing Frisbee. Then one day a lady friend met us there. She smelled really good, like flowers and the bakery that we sometimes walk by. Dude friend was happy, which makes me happy too! One day he asked if we could all live together and be a family. I was so happy that I licked his face all over. Also, he had just eaten some barbecue sauce, but mostly it was happiness.
I knew that fast guy was my person the first time we went running together. I could run all day. Well, I could run all day if I also get to stop sometimes and pick-up crumbs off the ground. But fast guy gets me! He puts on his feet covers and I get so excited! Sometimes we run and there are people cheering us while we go by. I must be a great runner because I get a lot of people excited about seeing me. It is like I am famous!
My favorite person is the best! She always has treats and I have figured out that if I do funny things, she gives me treats all the time. I showed her how to shake my paw, and if I wait long enough, she will roll around on the floor until I do it too. Then I get more treats! Sometimes when she sings, I howl along and I know I’m really good at it because she smiles a lot and laughs. I used to stare at her while she ate human food, but she did not like that. I figured out if I lay down like a good boy, she will give me a few bites anyway. I just want to make sure the food is safe and tastes okay because I am such a good helper.
I don’t want to brag but I have had two favorite people in my life. My first favorite person was a man human who brought me home when I was little. I was so small, I did not even know how to pee outside, but I learned pretty fast. We used to shop at outside markets where my cuteness would get me treats and get us extra discounts on fresh bread. He had a daughter human who would come to visit sometimes. She called me “Buddy” and “Pal”, which are not my names, but I would answer to them because she kept pretzels in her pocket just for me. The man human and I were getting older, but we still had a lot of walks together — even when water came down and I would get in trouble for splashing in the puddles.
My man human got slower and one day, we packed up my toys and my bed. He told me how much he loved me, and I licked his face all over because his eyes were leaking, and they tasted salty, but also because it made him smile. I knew he wouldn’t miss me too much because I rolled around and rubbed my fur all over his bed, so he could smell me long after I was gone. I went home with the daughter human, but I still got to visit the man once in a while. We didn’t walk around as much. I would sit with him and be so still, so he could pet my head because it made us both feel better.
Living with the daughter human was an adventure. My legs got a good workout because she lived up some stairs. We still went to outside markets and even though I am not as cute as I was when I was a puppy, I still get treats. Daughter human makes me homemade treats and I get a special cake with peanut butter on top sometimes. I miss my man human, but my new person keeps a pair of his shoes in the back of her closet. I carry them around and hide them places, so we both remember him — even when we don’t expect it.
The thing about having a favorite person is that they let us know that we are their favorites too. Our humans make us feel special with treats, toys, belly rubs, and outside walks. They get our sense of humor and laugh when we get silly. Some of us even get famous because our humans share pictures of us and get “likes”. I don’t really feel the “likes” unless there is a treat involved somehow.
