A friend everybody should have

Just as each of us is different and has different passions, in the same way we can say that we rather have next to us a dog, a cat, a fish or maybe even an iguana (I personally love them but unfortunately I am the only one at home who does).
Growing up in the country side, I can say that we have always owned a dog. However, at the time you would have a dog because someone needed to guard the house, just the same way a cat was needed in case there were mice found on the premises, not just for the love of it :)
Not until a few years back we bought a dog because we felt the need to share our love with a small four legged fellow and My God, how our lives have changed. I never thought by that time that we can act with an animal like he was a child, overwhelming him with attention, gifts, the best doctors when needed and so on.
However, this is where I can say that was also our mistake. As learned on the hard way, we forgot one very important aspect: he is anyway a dog and needs to still be aware that he has a master. That does not mean that he is not loved or cared about, but he is not the leader of the pack. When not taking this aspect into account, the dog may try to dominate everyone, become violent when not being able to and the energy in the house becomes negative. At least, that is what happened in our case.
For what is worth, it was a long road but what it matters now is that he is a happy dog and we still love him like Day 1.