Animals and their connection with humans

Animals and humans can connect on far deeper levels than we think. The idea of a pet is as simple as it sounds, its a pet. It's quite simple; you own an animal and care for it regularly, the animal eventually passes away and the owner moves on. But I don't agree with that. I think in the time that the animal is in your care, you form a deep bond. Even though you cannot verbally connect with the animal, you bond in other ways, through love and happiness especially (or at least through my experience). The dog that I have now started out as the families dog. Then the kids started to grow up and the dog turned into my dads dog. But when my parents were divorced and my dad moved out of the house, my dog didn't exactly have someone in specific to direct all of his attention to. So now, 2 years later I would consider Boone my dog. I am the one who walks him, bathes him, feeds him, grooms him and everything else imaginable. From taking over the position that my dad once held, I formed the bond with Boone. Boone is a relatively calm dog, he will be 10 on May 10th and the majority of his day he spends it napping or sun bathing. He never barks when a stranger comes over like a lot of dogs, and he has never once been aggressive with any of us kids. But when I come home from school or from work, he goes nuts. He stands in the window and cries because he knows my car, and as soon as I walk in through the garage door he flies down the stairs and is licking my face and wagging his tail so hard that he smacks himself in the face. I will sit with him for about 10 minutes after I get home and he will try his best to snuggle in my lap but always fails (he's about 80lbs). This happiness that he displays when he is with me is something that you will not see if he is with anyone else. I believe that he has bonded with me (I would be his "master") and this bond has been formed by trust, happiness, and love. He knows that I will always care for him and I will always come home to see him and walk him. Boone is my best bud and I love him as much as I love my family and my boyfriend. To me, he is much more than just a "pet". With him, that term goes much deep than the simple and plain idea.