Be Your Dog's Best Friend: The Benefits of Mutual Bonding and Relationship Building

Bonding with a dog is good for the animal, but it is also good for us. Through bonding, we can achieve the behaviors we desire from a dog, and along the way, we change our behaviors too. This makes bonding with canines a unique healing journey, because it takes us right to the intersection between dog guardianship and our own personal growth. This how-to-bond book, set against the backdrop of a true love story, explores what happens when we prioritize the relationship with our canines over the results we get from them. The role of pet parent requires outside effort, yet it also offers a portal to inner well-being. Bonding is in connection with dogs and within ourselves at the same time, bolstering the love we feel for dogs while strengthening the love we feel for ourselves.

With a woven narrative that features various foster dogs as well as exercises on what to do to bond with your own dog, this book positions dog adoption as both a selfish and a selfless act, enriching the significant value all dogs can bring to our lives. Every dog has the capacity to provide us a chance to be the best version of ourselves, day after day, simply because the dog is around. This is precisely what makes us not only cherish dogs, but cherish who we become when we are with them. We bond with a dog to improve the relationship with our pet, but we end up with the relationship we really want: the one with ourselves.