Happiness

Dogs have an amazing ability to cheer up their owners in times of darkness and to teach us all about peace, joy, and contentment. 

Peace

This photograph of Bear always makes me smile. Out of all of our dogs, she's always the one to seek out the nearest sunbeam for a quick lie-down.

Joy

In the summertime, we grow berry bushes. This is a picture of Muffin after guiltlessly stealing a tasty raspberry.

Contentment

Molly is content with the simpler things in life. She's a clever little dog who knows how to pick a lock and could probably figure out how to get onto the countertops if she set her mind to it, but her talents generally make us laugh rather than inspiring anger. She's playful, too, but even with her medication she cannot exert herself too much or she'll start to wheeze. She can't run with the other dogs or play tug-o-war for more than a minute or so, but she's never let it stop her from finding other ways of entertaining herself - like sitting on top of Bear and spilling her food bowl all over the floor and down the stairs. Her two favorite things in life are food and family, and there she is at the dinner table with me, content in our togetherness and in the possibility that she might get some veggie scraps out of the deal.