1. You think your dog is the best dog in the world. Period.

At my wedding, the Maid of Honor told a story about our dog. It was completely embarrassing and 100 percent true. Enter Alex:
"One thing is they have a delusion about their dog, Marshall. He is really cute, but at one point in time, they were convinced that just because he could sit and roll over on command 50 percent of the time, that he was the best and smartest dog ever. Even though he ripped up the carpet and peed all over the floor. They also love Marshall so much that over a two day trip to Hocking Hills, they Skyped Marshall while he was at the kennel. That was pretty funny. You can only say 'Hi Marshall' and 'Hey Buddy' so many times."
Yes we did that. Worse, we paid for it.

2. You smile

The minute you lay eyes on the little guy for the first time, you smile. It may not be an ear to ear smile. More likely it's one of those "aww look at that face" smiles. Kind of a lip-trembling happy frown smile. But as the pup grows into a fully grown dog or as your rescue buddy turn into part of your home, you smile more and more. When he does something cute, you smile. When she goes potty outside, you smile. When they get tired and walk over and curl up in your lap, you smile. Even after he destroys your favorite shoe, you learn to smile (after a few minutes of not smiling).

3. You turn to mush

Literally. You literally melt into a puddle of mush. Because that dog owns you. You may think you run the house. But you would be wrong. That little guy just chewed a hole through the bottom of your brand new couch. But it's okay because, "he's just a confused little puppy but he is just so cute we can just eat him up yes yes we can just eat him up because he's such a bad boy but he is such a cute little puppy with a fuzzy little puppy face." Is that even English? Dogs make us create our own language too. A language of long run-on sentences that make no sense and lack punctuation.

4. You let your dog sleep in the bed

I dare you to try avoiding this. I did. It will happen eventually. And you will love it. I feel lonely if I don't have a dog curled up above my head. Though I could do without getting kicked in the face five times every night.