I’ve always been an animal lover. Since a very young age I’ve been drawn toward them, my mood instantly lifted by any creature that crosses my path. Dogs, however, have always been my favorite. Several years ago I started volunteering at my local animal shelter, and shortly after that, adopted my first dog.
The dog that chose me came with a host of issues which were eerily like my own (by no mistake I’m sure), and though it was rocky for a while, we are now thoroughly bonded and inseparable. Thanks to her many behavioral issues I’m now a self-proclaimed dog nerd, which basically means that I absorb any and all dog-related information I can get my hands on. However, the most useful of this knowledge has been obtained through the process of actually being with dogs.
Learning to read their body language, watching them take in smells with laser-like focus, and noticing how quickly they rebound from stressors got me thinking: what if people could be more like dogs?
If we pay closer attention to our four-legged friends, we might learn some valuable lessons. Here are a few that I’ve discovered so far:
Follow Your Nose
Dogs live in the moment, allowing their instincts to guide them from one situation to the next. This is true of all animals besides humans; we are the only species that tend to over think everything, instead of trusting our gut.
Funnily, though, we actually possess the same instinctual abilities. We’ve just been taught to ignore them for so long that we don’t know how to use them anymore.
If we allow ourselves to be still and quiet we can hear the voice of our intuition, and the more we trust and act on what it tells us, the better at hearing it we become!
Stop and Smell the Roses
Too often in our over-scheduled lives we are so busy that we lose sight of the important things, one of these being the joy in small moments. The magnificence of a sunset, the sweet smell of a flower, the joy-filled laughter of a loved one.
All these things make life worth living just that much more, and often we don’t even notice them! When I’ve been busy and forgetful, a walk with my dog helps to remind me that taking it all in is just as important as getting it all done.
Taking time to stop and smell the roses can give our busy brains just enough of a break to remember that life is about so much more than our to-do lists!
Love Unconditionally
Dogs are loving to a fault, even when they have less than desirable guardians. While I’m definitely not suggesting that we allow people to treat us badly, one lesson we can take from this is to love unconditionally.
That means even when our kids aren’t behaving the way we want them to, even when our family members are acting in ways that irritate us, or whatever other annoyances exist in any of our relationships that we can’t stand, we still love them.
Unconditional means just that: without conditions. Love is simple.
When you love unconditionally your heart opens, making all the little things that would normally irritate you seem insignificant.
This also applies to loving ourselves which can be the most difficult, but important nonetheless. Forgiving ourselves for our imperfections and loving ourselves the way our dogs love us? Life changing.
Dwelling is Futile
Even the most anxious, fearful, and reactive dogs don’t dwell on their troubles. They experience something that bothers them, they shake it off (literally), and they move on.
They do not spend the rest of the day wondering why it happened, how they could have handled it differently, or what the other dogs think of them! This is a huge lesson that we can take from our canine companions (and all animals, really), to help us worry less and enjoy life more.
We weren’t born to worry “what if?” all day, we were born to experience life! While that comes with ups and downs, challenges, and other things we may not like, the good can far outweigh the bad if we can just stop worrying long enough to see it.
With Knowledge Comes Confidence
In dog training, especially with fearful/reactive dogs, mental stimulation is extremely helpful for building confidence.
Teaching a dog new commands or tricks —even outside of behavioral training— and practicing them consistently has been shown to improve impulse control, decrease unwanted behaviors, and improve the quality of life in dogs with behavioral issues.
This is also true for humans; learning and mastering new subjects and skills leads to increased confidence, not only in the area of study but in everyday life!
Have you ever noticed how one person’s energy can change the vibe of a whole room? When we feel good about ourselves, we not only improve our own life experience, but we also bring a great deal more to the world around us.
Remember to Play
How often do humans make time for play, just for the fun of it? Far less than we should, that’s for sure. It’s totally understandable; life is busy! But what if we took a few moments out of our day just to do something fun, without a meaning or purpose to it?
This is another thing our dogs are showing us if we only pay attention. Dogs play with abandon; they don’t care how many calories they burn or if they get their recommended amount of daily exercise, they just have fun!
Of course fitness is important, too. But life becomes so much more fun if you take the time to be playful once in a while!
It makes no sense that animals are viewed as “lesser” species because they don’t use words. In fact, they’re smarter than humans in many ways, and more helpful to our kind than we give them credit for.
When we stop and pay attention to our dogs, cats, or other animal friends, we can learn a lot from them. While a person’s journey is their own choice of course, in my experience things got a lot easier once I started taking lessons from my dog, and paying closer attention to the habits of animals in general.
Getting out in nature is often an effective prescription for helping us reconnect to ourselves. So next time you’re out there, take a moment to see what you can learn!