He's a warm hearted person who'll love me till the end.

(People let me tell you 'bout my best friend).

He's a warm hearted person who'll love me till the end.
People let me tell you bout my best friend,
He's a one boy cuddly toy, my up, my down, my pride and joy.

People let me tell you 'bout him he's so much fun
Whether we're talkin' man to man or whether we're talking son to son.
Cause he's my best friend.
Yes he's my best friend.

Yesterday was "National Dog Day". People shared pictures of their furry little friends on every social media site that you can think of. There were pictures to stare at for hours upon hours. Of course, I couldn't be left out, because I have the best ole pup in the world. And that's not an exaggeration, it's cold, hard facts, friends. Who is this amazing pup you may ask.

Tayder.

Yes, his name is Tayder and he picked it out all on his own. Which sounds dumb and made up, but I swear isn't. This little guy has been there and saved me in more than one way. He's never shunned me and listens to me like he's a human. Personally, I think that he is human and just using magic to pretend to be a canine so he can watch over me. And watch over me he does. I know this sounds dumb, but I think he might have actually saved my life..... And if not my life, then at least he saved a piece of my sanity that was on it's way out the door.

You see, at the time when we brought Tayder home, I wasn't quite in the best place mentally or physically that I could have been. Some things were going on in my life that I wasn't dealing with in the best possible way and everybody seemed to want to "get me help". I had to go to a counselor, then a psychiatrist. It was craziness and when I think back on it I can't believe that it actually went to "that" level. And you know what I mean when I say "that" level.

The psychiatrist that was working with me informed my mother that the best thing to do for me would be to send me to a place that could help me with my "psychological problems". Momma and I talked it over and I begged her not to send me away, I didn't want to go, I wanted to stay at home. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that there is anything wrong with getting professional help, but with all things I also don't think that it's for everybody. And at that particular time, it wasn't for me. She agreed and we started trying to find alternative ways to deal with the things that I had going on.

So, we tried it all. We tried the meds and we tried the exercise. I took more classes and did things to occupy my mind. I got up and did it. But, I was just going through the motions. I didn't "feel" any better. And frankly, I looked like shit. My hair was falling out, I dropped down to 86 pounds, I had dark circles around my eyes due to insomnia and I couldn't keep anything in the form of food down. It just wasn't a good time.

Then one day Momma got a bright idea. She told me to get into the car and she took me to a shelter. I walked around in that shelter looking at all of the dogs, trying to figure out why in the world she thought that bringing me to this incredibly sad place would make me feel better. She informed e that we would be adopting that day and while I would usually be giddy, because I want ALL the dogs, I just didn't get excited much. I started looking at the big dogs, so I could train them to attack my enemies, but Momma didn't think that was such a grand idea. And then she said- "What about him?" And when I looked up, there was the cutest little dog that I have ever seen in my entire life.

And it's moments like that, that make me believe in that old saying- "It was love at first sight". Because it really was. Love doesn't have to be romantic, it's just love. I adopted him right then and there and when we walked out the door of that shelter, he ran straight for our car and jumped into the window. It's like he knew. On our way home, I yelled out probably one hundred names to see if he would answer to any of them. And he just kept sitting on my lap with that head of his hanging out the window the whole time. It was a bit frustrating to say the least. Well, remember that movie- Cars? It was popular at that point, especially the character of- Mater. Finally, I said- "What in the hell do you want your name to be then?! Tater?!" And he turned around and started licking me in the face. So from that point on, that was his name. But I spelled it different, because I felt like he deserved something a little fancy.

Tayder didn't have the easiest life before us either. He was born at the shelter we had adopted him from and had spent the majority of his life in that little bitty cage. We like to refer to that period of time as the time he had to spend in "the home". You know, like "Shady Pines". (If you don't get that reference, we can't be friends). But now he's spoiled rotten and you won't meet a soul alive that's ever met him, that doesn't love him. Well, maybe a couple, the funny part? He really does try to attack my enemies!!

And I know it sounds weird, but once we adopted him, it's like I just started feeling better. And I'm not saying that adopting a puppy is the "magic cure", because there's just no such thing. However, like I said earlier, I do believe that different things work for different people. He didn't "make me better", but he helped. And he's been there ever since. He's my best friend (right along with Momma) and I wouldn't trade either of them for anything.

He's so funny. He demands to sleep under the covers and then growls at you when you move him around. He really does think that he's a human (so do I). He eats like a grown man and while he's not got as much energy as he used to, he's definitely still wonderful!! And that's not all that I could say about him, I could never write enough to tell him thank you for everything that he's done or how amazing that he is, but it's a small start.

So, Happy National Dog Day, Tayder!! I love you as much as any one person could ever love another!!