My dog, Louie, was diagnosed with cancer in April 2016.

We’re approaching the exact date that my husband and I found out that Louie was sick. I wasn’t sure we’d have another year with our sweet dog, so I’ve been counting every day as a blessing – even as he passes the smelliest gas while I write this post.

Cancer has made the past year tough. I haven’t wanted to share much about it on this blog because I was in the midst of the storm. It’s tough to see your way through something when you’re in the heat of the battle. I typically need some time to process, so I can reflect on what happened, and finally make sense of it by sharing the experience.

Over the past year, a lot of our closest friends who knew about Louie’s diagnosis would kindly ask about his health. At first, I would burst into tears immediately every time they broached the subject. Which, of course, made me feel so pitiful for weeping over a dog. I felt really guilty about it because cancer is in humans, too, and here I was crying about my dog.

But, that’s part of the lessons learned. Our dogs are more than companion animals. They really are our best friends, who consistently greet us with excitement and love and adoration. And sometimes dogs treat us better than our human friends do.

Little Louie has always been a willing participant in whatever camera test I’ve got up my sleeve. I was testing the miniature mode – which over saturates everything – on a new pocket camera in 2012.

My sweet little Louie has been with me for 10 years now. Those years were pretty brutal, too. I did a lot of growing up in that time. In no particular order: I got in a car wreck that put me in intense physical therapy, bought my first house to renovate, adopted Louie, started making movies, founded the TriFilm Society, quit a few jobs, started new jobs, fell in love, got married, built a new house with my husband, began learning what it meant to be a wife, and so much more.

He loves to cuddle. #dogs #dogsofinstagram #pitbull #pitmix #dogslife #doglover

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Little Lou has been right by my side the entire time. Through every difficult, dark day he has been there to cuddle. During every moment of joy, he has been there smiling back at me. We’ve been walking, running, and playing together for so long that it’s hard to imagine life without Louie.

In the midst of our grieving, figuring out how to handle Louie’s cancer treatments, shuffling back and forth to the vet, new special care regimen, and paying medical bills made the past year tough.

It made it really hard to concentrate on working on my new documentary Good Thing. The new movie is a feature-length documentary about Shannon Johnstone, a photographer who’s helping dogs at the Wake County Animal Shelter find homes. (That’s the same shelter where my sister found Louie and brought him home. Black dogs usually don’t find homes fast enough, so they’re more likely to be euthanized.) I’m sincerely looking forward to getting this film finished so you can see it. Watch the trailer here.

Louie looks a lot different now. He lost a lot of weight, so his cheeks and spine protrude a bit. His coat isn’t thick and shiny like it was when he was a pup. (He has what they call “pred skin” because of the meds he’s taking.) And he moves a little slower than he once did. (Then again, I move a little slower than I did 10 years ago, too.)

As we approach that one-year anniversary of Louie’s cancer diagnosis, I find myself feeling overwhelmingly grateful for the time we’ve spent together.

With the chaos of the world, I feel lucky to find love and joy on a daily basis. I am so thankful for all the lessons Louie’s taught me about life, loyalty, and love. He’s my boy. I’m going to love him as long as I live, ya know?

Dogs are special creatures that adore, forgive, and love us unconditionally.

May you find that, too.

We’re pretty excited about it NOT being so hot this week.

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