Be the Person Your Dog Thinks You Are

Recently a friend reminded me of one of my favorite quotes. "Be the person your dog thinks you are.” I don’t know who penned that phrase but I’m sure that he or she owned a dog.

I have a dog.His name is Jack. He is a 9-year-old Brittany. At 9-years-old Jack is getting a little gray around the muzzle. In dog years, he’s almost reached retirement.

But that doesn’t stop him from acting like a pup, especially when I walk in the door. If I’ve been gone for more than an hour, when I get home he acts like we just won the lottery. His tail wags so hard that his whole body sways back and forth. It really is hard to tell if it’s the dog wagging the tail or the tail wagging the dog. He howls. It’s a happy howl. And of course he does a happy dance - part rumba, part tango with a little bit of the twist thrown in for good measure.

That type of unbridled enthusiasm is hard to find outside of the dog world. In fact, it might be impossible to find. But I believe that we should all strive to become a person worthy of such praise. Of course we will come up short, but if we all tried to live up to our dog’s expectations than the world would be a better place.

Now the question is how do we strive for a life worthy of such praise? One way is to volunteer. There are many places to volunteer. One place that I have a special interest in is the Alzheimer’s Association.

Every year the Alzheimer’s Association Long Island Chapter puts on the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. This year the 5k walk will be held at Old Bethpage Restoration in Old Bethpage on Sept. 10.

You can show your support by volunteering or by forming a team of walkers to raise funds. Your participation in The Walk to End Alzheimer’s will help the Alzheimer’s Association to enhance Alzheimer’s care and support and advance critical research for all those affected by this devastating disease.

If you would like to come and walk but you don’t want to captain your own team, you can always contact the Alzheimer’s Association and join an existing team. In fact, I am still looking for a few more members to round out my team. So feel free to give me a call, or send me an email.

For more information, to become an official walk sponsor or to volunteer, please contact the Alzheimer's Association Long Island Chapter at 631-580-5100.

So let’s go out there and make our dogs proud.

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.

-Ann Landers