Lexi Cannan is a senior at Penn State University studying Advertising. At Penn State, she is involved with THON, the Advertising/Public Relations Club, and Sigma Delta Tau. She is currently a public relations intern with Vizion Group PR, where she works on projects for the National Dog Show. In her free time, Lexi enjoys Pilates, trying new restaurants, listening to music, spending time with friends and family, and, of course, spending time with Scout, her favorite Golden Retriever.
My family has always had cats, so people’s dog fascination has always been a mystery to me. Literally my entire life, there has always been a cat in my house, so naturally, I grew up considering myself a cat person. Dogs were completely different for me. I was actually afraid of them and would usually avoid going near them. If I went to someone’s house and they had a dog, I definitely wasn’t the person running over to give pets. I just never understood why people were so obsessed with their dogs or why they talked about them like they were another member of the family. Then I met Scout.
Scout is my boyfriend Jared’s English Cream Golden Retriever, and she will be three in March. When I first met her, being around a dog was definitely something I had to get used to. However, the more time I spent with Scout, the more comfortable I became. Somewhere along the way, my fear of dogs completely disappeared, and I finally started to understand why people love their dogs as much as they do. Scout may technically be Jared’s dog, but at this point, I definitely consider her mine too.
Scout’s day pretty much consists of eating, playing outside, and running around the yard. She loves being outside, even if half the time she is eating grass or finding a stick that she probably should not be chewing on. One of her favorite things to do is roll around in the grass, and she will gladly take a belly rub from anyone willing to engage. She somehow manages to make even the most normal parts of the day entertaining just by being herself. Of that, I am truly envious.
Her love for food may be even stronger. Peanut butter and bananas are two of her favorites, and somehow, she always knows when there is food around. It doesn’t matter where she is in the house because the second someone has something to eat, Scout seems to appear. I’m sure it is her super-human sense of smell.
Then, there are socks. For whatever reason, Scout loves stealing them. If you leave a pair on the floor, there is a very high chance she will grab one and run away with it. That’s the devil in her! She knows she isn’t supposed to have them, which makes it even more exciting for her. Her actual favorite toy is a squeaky raccoon, but apparently, a sock she isn’t supposed to have is much more interesting.
Being around Scout was completely different from the experience with my cats. My cats are independent souls. They love attention when they want it, but only on their terms. Scout wants to be involved in pretty much everything. She gets excited when you come home, follows everyone around the house, and is just wonderfully curious. She wants to be involved in all things all the time.
What’s crazy is now I’m the person talking about my dog! I have pictures of Scout all over my phone, miss her when I haven’t seen her in a while, and I even take note of every Golden Retriever I see. Somewhere along the way, I also stopped calling her “Jared’s dog” and started calling her “my dog.” That’s when I realized the transformation was complete.
So, I guess I can’t really say I’m only a cat person anymore. Before Scout, I probably would have watched the National Dog Show on Thanksgiving Day and simply thought all the canines were cute. Now, I actually understand why people have such a strong connection with their dogs and consider them such an important part of their lives. Dogs have their own personalities, habits, and little things that make people love them, and Scout has definitely shown me that.
After growing up with only cats, I never expected that one dog would give me an entirely new appreciation for them. It’s also one of the reasons I’m especially excited for the National Dog Show this year. Working on the show as part of my internship with Vizion Group has a completely different meaning now that I understand what it is like to have a dog become such an important part of your life.
This fall, the Kennel Club of Philadelphia’s National Dog Show returns to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 14-15. Grab your friends and family and get your tickets to see the show in person at https://nds.nationaldogshow.com/. Presented by Purina.
If you can’t make it to Oaks, you can still watch the National Dog Show on NBC on Thanksgiving Day from noon to 2 p.m. in all time zones.
I’ll be watching, and in a nod to my new best friend, Scout, I’ll be rooting for the Golden Retriever to win Best in Show.
Join me!