16/07/2023
Living with dogs is a privilege.
A world without dogs would be grey and sad.
A day without them would.
Yet we take them for granted.
We forget to listen to them and refuse to learn from them.
And they have so much to teach us.
Self-reflection, observation and mindfulness to be in the moment are their lessons.
Play for no other reason than to have fun.
Compassion, empathy and being fully present.
How to love and be faithful to your loved ones without expecting anything back.
Dogs teach us that we matter, every one of us.
Because when a dog is in your life, you are the best thing in the world to them.
They teach us to back off and wait while they make their decisions, but so many of us refuse to learn.
We rush them,
Because we feel rushed ourselves.
We push them,
When we feel pushed.
We expose them to trauma,
When we have known trauma ourselves and don’t understand how it’s shaped us.
Yet dogs don’t deserve to be our physical or emotional punchbags.
They haven’t earned that.
But they are easy for it.
Vulnerable.
The thing is, when we push, rush and traumatise dogs, we are also not taking in their lesson.
The lesson that all the best dog people know and are fully committed to.
The lesson from dogs is the gentle, quiet, subtle nod to our self-awareness.
Just by being with us, they can make us better,
If we let them.
But if we push and make, bully and pressurise them, nobody wins.
The dog lives in fear and anxiety.
We live an insecure, ego-based life that can never give us true peace.
Yet everyone can change.
It’s uncomfortable, but it’s possible.
Through self-examination, education, and willingness.
Because if we bully dogs, pressurise dogs or force them,
We can never be our best selves,
Like magnets that won’t join at their ends.
Aiming force at dogs makes us less than we could be.
The effect is bigger than you might think when you put that prong collar on that dog.
Not only are you denying the dog their potential,
You’re also denying the potential you have in yourself.
And here's my biggest life lesson dog so far.
