why dogs make life and school better

For someone who has lived for just over 15 years, I can understand if some do not believe me when I say that I have made some big decisions in my life. Mostly, I have made decisions that have had a  positive impact on my life. A couple of big ones were transferring to North Cross, signing up for cross country and going to New Zealand (okay maybe that one wasn’t entirely my choice). Nonetheless, the greatest decision I have made in my life was in the spring of 2019 when I picked out my beloved little puppy Nera. 
    Dogs have always been a huge part of my family. My mom had a dog growing up, my dad had dogs growing up, my cousins have dogs, my aunts and uncles have dogs and my brother, sister and I were all raised with dogs in the house. For my family, dogs are a fact of life. They are not just  pets, they’re family. 
My family's current dog is a lively, very loving Aussiedoodle, who wants nothing more than to roam the beach with her doggy friends and to be showered with affection and love. Nera loves playing fetch and “tag” with my younger brother Braden, going on long walks and snuggling up next to me. Not only does my family provide a loving home for her, she makes our home a happier place.
When I am upset, Nera will come and put her head in my lap or bark a little knowing that I need to play and have some fun. When the family is excited, Nera always joins in on the fun, joyfully barking and dancing with us. As soon as I come home from school, Nera greets me like I have been gone for 10 years. She lets me know that I am never alone, even when I’d like to be for a bit. She makes me feel loved every single day.
I know that many families reap the benefits of having a dog. An article from Time magazine tells the impact dogs have on a person’s health, “Having a dog around can lead to lower levels of stress for both adults and kids. They’ve been found to decrease the risk of asthma in children and have been linked to lower blood pressure.” The magazine also quoted Andy Jones, a University of East Anglia professor saying in a press release that
“We were amazed to find that dog walkers were on average more physically active and spent less time sitting on the coldest, wettest, and darkest days than non-dog owners were on long, sunny, and warm summer days,” project lead Andy Jones said in a press release.
While I feel that dogs, compared to cats, provide a more significant bond between pet owners and their furry friends, it appears that both cats and dogs can improve a person’s happiness. An article from Metropolitan State University of Denver talked about the effect pets have on their owners. The article stated that “A recent survey that examined 1,000 pet owners and 1,000 people without pets got some pretty startling results. It found that people with furry friends tend to spend more time outdoors, exercise more often, feel more loved and just generally be happier than those without a dog or cat, often by significant margins.” 
    Dogs offer a more loving and friendly atmosphere than most other animals. The Mayo Clinic explains that simply, “People with dogs know the benefits of pet ownership. The unconditional love, trust and loyalty shown by your canine companions, coupled with their unbridled enthusiasm on your return home each day, is hard to put into words.” Plus, why do you think North Cross has so many furry friends roaming the compass? It’s because we students love them just as much as they love us and having them around makes our school all that much more like a home. 
    So what do the students at North Cross have to say about having our fun-loving furry friends on campus? “My old baseball coach, Coach Lawarence, had a dog,” Carter Reel ‘28 said, “and if I had a bad day, before practice the dog would like, her name’s Debbie, she would come up to me and we would play catch before practice and it would make my practice a lot better.”

Not everyone is a dog person, but some of those people can’t help but love our furry friends at North Cross. “I don’t like dogs, but let me say something….,” Ameer Albishah ‘26 said, “I love the dogs at North Cross here, because… they are very interactive , they’re very nice, they’re very fluffy….they lighten up my mood and they’re very positive.” 

Many of us at NCS hold a special place in our hearts for each dog: “I think it’s fun[having dogs at North Cross],” Maddie Howes ‘27 said, “I love Moose, he’s my favorite.” 

Each of the dogs contribute to filling our school with love and brightening up the school day. 
“The dogs pretty much make it (school) better because well,” said Kaylie Johnson ‘26, “I’m personally a dog person so having a bunch of dogs here is really comforting.”

At the end of the school day, all I can say is that whether you like cats or dogs, birds or bunnies, lizards or guinea pigs, pets are a special part of the North Cross family.