Laughter Lines...

Talking to my cousin a few weeks ago about Storm and the impact she's had on my life, he made the statement that "...a dog will do something every day that makes you laugh".

About the same time, a link appeared on Twitter to a piece in the Daily Mail which states that owning a dog can make you much healthier, not only because of the exercise from all the walking/ball throwing, but also because of the all-around benefits of their companionship.

This is certainly true in the case of Storm and I. As I've already mentioned, Storm's presence at my side when my beloved son goes off to his Dad's makes me feel much better. I love walking her, I love it when she's on the sofa next to me in the evening, I love that when I'm at my desk (as now) she's on the floor by my feet. I love our gundog training sessions with Sarah Miles, the drive there and back, the time in the woods and the learning of a new skill. She's great with my son and step-children and my partner has fallen in love with her too.

But my cousin was so right about the funny side of dogs and she does make me laugh every day. When she misjudges her leap onto the sofa and ends up headbutting the back, I giggle. When she's given her bone and she's so excited, she has to carry it around tail wagging furiously for at least 10 minutes before settling down with it, I chuckle. When she tries to encourage me to play with her by rolling her ball toward me with her nose then staring at me in what she clearly assumes to be a winning fashion, I guffaw. When she does her famous (well, famous in our house anyway!) Yoga-Dog stretches and ends up reversing across the kitchen floor, I chortle. When she sits in the bathroom with me with her head nodding as she follows drop after drop of water down the shower screen, I snigger. When I come home to her after a trip out and her tail wags so much her rear end almost takes off, I smile, laugh and my heart melts a little bit more because of my beautiful girl.

In short, there are hundreds of times a week when she makes me smile or laugh, hundreds of memories, hundreds of moments, hundreds of drops of happiness that Storm showers on my life.

I'm just wondering if you can claim for owner's skincare on pet insurance because I seem to have acquired a lot of laughter lines in the last few months.