I've never had a dog and have to admit that I don't fully understanding the relationship with "man's best friend", but I do have a few furry, four-legged friends who are teaching me how special dogs are. There's Baxter, pictured above, who has slowly won me over with that cute mug. Then there's Diesel who once sneezed on my face at point-blank range. I once almost ended up locked in rambunctious pups Hollan and Rowan's crate rather than the other way around. They all consistently jumped on me, licked me, snuggled up to me, and gave me their doggy love - regardless of whether or not I wanted it!

Dogs freely give you their attention and love right away, every time. They don't wait patiently by the door for their owner to pet them before returning the greeting. They launch right at you tail wagging, barking hello, showing you that they missed you and are glad that you're home. We humans could take a cue from dogs. We tend to wait for other people to make the first move, whether that's saying hello to a stranger, calling a friend, making plans, or saying "I love you." We do this because we're unsure of our relationship with someone, to protect ourselves from potentially being hurt, because we're simply lazy, or a hundred other perfectly understandable reasons. But, what if we were more like dogs and made the first move more often, effortlessly sharing ourselves with others?