Lucy plops herself onto the sidewalk and refuses to move. We are a block away from our house. This is her form of protest. She is a 5-year-old golden doodle — too big for me to pick up and carry home, and while she has done this to me before, it never fails to annoy me. This time is no different. I tug at the leash, but she does not budge. Instead, she lets me drag her over to the grass.

One of my neighbors has her friends over on her porch. They see my situation and ask if I need help. Normally, I’m too prideful to accept help, but my pride went out the window the second Lucy decided to lie down on the sidewalk.

I nod my head, grateful to no longer be alone in this situation. The woman and a man come up to Lucy and sweet-talk her. Immediately, Lucy pops up and greets them with a wagging tail.

“Baby, come here,” they say, walking backwards down the sidewalk. Lucy follows them, but not without lying down and asking for belly rubs. Eventually, I make it home, exhausted but grateful for the generosity of strangers.

That happened a few weeks ago. While Lucy’s stubbornness was frustrating, the experience ultimately fostered human connection. Usually, I would walk right by my neighbor’s porch without saying anything to her or her friends. Instead, these strangers helped me coax Lucy home. Lucy unintentionally created community.  

Nicole Lorig, a post-doctoral research associate at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Arizona, can explain how bonding with pets increases oxytocin — the love and bonding hormone. Lorig works at the Human-Animal Bond Lab research group, specifically on pets’ effect on human thought patterns.

“We have increases in a hormone called oxytocin when we’re with our pets,” Lorig said. “Studies have shown that pets experience an increase of oxytocin as well.”

That’s how Lucy makes me feel. Even when she frustrates me, she truly is my best friend.

Lucy came into my life in the fall of 2021. She came from a breeder from the south suburbs of Chicago, and when I saw Lucy for the first time, I immediately felt like she was the most precious thing in the world.

Though an adorable little puppy, she started showing early signs of being a troublemaker. She would nip my legs during walks and bite on the leash. One time while walking her with my mom, she somehow managed to take off her harness and run around the park with it in her mouth. 

We probably should have scolded her with a “bad dog,” but we did not have the heart.

Erin Antonyzyn, a teacher at Hamilton Elementary in Chicago, adopted her dog Buckley about 10 years ago. He is part boxer and part pitbull. Buckley immediately bonded with her kids, Asher and Gracen.

“He followed them everywhere,” Antonyzyn said. “They took him on walks, played with him in the snow and learned how to feed him.”

Antonyzyn believes the bond humans and animals share is pure.

“I think people love, care for and forgive animals much easier than they do humans,” Antonyzyn said. “And animals do the same right back.”

During the fall of 2024, I transferred to DePaul from Truman Community College. The difference between Truman’s 16-week semesters and DePaul’s 10-week quarters overwhelmed me. There were some nights when anxiety rose up inside of me like lava in a volcano. During those panic attacks, Lucy was a great companion. She would put her paw on my chest, I would snuggle up against her head, and her warm presence would calm me down, melting my anxiety away like ice in the springtime. 

Rodrigo Ruiz, a University of Texas alum who lives in Brownsville, Texas, has two dogs. Lola is an 8-year-old Chihuahua, and Maya is a 4-year-old pug.

When Ruiz got Covid-19 in 2021, he noticed a change in Lola and Maya’s behavior towards him. Their faces seemed sad, and they checked up on Ruiz when he stayed in bed longer than normal.

“I realized how they can sense how one is feeling,” Ruiz said. “They’re there for you through thick and thin.”

Lucy has been there for me through thick and thin. She was the one constant when everything else in my life seemed to change: my sister, Kayla, moving into her college dorm, my family moving out of my childhood home, my transition between two colleges. It was comforting having a puppy around to care for. Lucy has cared for me too, in her own way.

As I entered my home with Lucy after the help from strangers, I took a moment to feel gratitude for their help. I looked into Lucy’s big brown eyes and I realized, despite her stubborn moments, I would not change her for the world.

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