I love dogs, or as I refer to them, doggos.

If you have me on Snapchat, my story almost always contains a healthy dose of snaps of the latest dog or dogs that I met with captions in all caps proclaiming the breed. You can guarantee that if I see a cute dog on the side of the street, I will be there taking a picture of it and asking the owner to pet it (no shame). On Facebook, my news feed is likewise cluttered with posts from Corgi Overload, BuzzFeed Animals and tags in dog videos. I am thankful the internet and its memes, which actually started the term “doggo” for ironic purposes, have given me more than enough content to appreciate.

I am certainly not alone in my love for dogs, if the thousands of people who have liked dog-related Facebook pages are any indication. Still, that I got my entire family, especially my older sister, to refer to dogs as doggos, floof, puppers and pupperinos is just one example of how much I talk about them. Now, you might be wondering that this obsession must mean I have a dog myself, but unfortunately I do not, which might explain my obsession. (Side note: I do have an 11-year-old sucker fish named Lucky that I love very much.)

It is not for a lack of trying. I have frequented Petco and adoption websites and shown my parents what I find the most irresistible pictures of a maltese, corgi or labradoodle in hopes of finally persuading them to adopt one, or two. Each time, I am met with “now’s not the right time” or “we’re too busy for a dog.”

Since having my own dog is not in my foreseeable future, I look to my friends for their dogs. Junior Elizabeth Lee has an adorable maltese shih tzu named Coco, and fittingly, Elizabeth’s name in my phone is “Owner of Coco.” We even started an instagram for her dog, complete with photoshoots and even a musical.ly, a short music video.

Though all this may seem a little over the top or even strange, my love of dogs has led me to be in a way more spontaneous. On a whim, my friends and I would decide to go to a dog park or run across entire fields just to talk to a stranger after seeing their cute dog.

And though many things might change as I head to college, including my references to dogs as “doggos,” it’s nice to know that at least some things won’t. I hope for everyone can carry something they love just as much with them to wherever they go next.