16/09/2021
Food for thought, especially in these trying times.
Mahatma Gandhi is quoted as having said “There's more to life than increasing its sp*ed”. I believe it’s not just about increasing the sp*ed but trying to keep up and function in a world where sp*ed dominates our days. So much of our lives is governed by alarms, watches, schedules, being somewhere at a certain time. Our lives often feel completely chaotic as we run from one thing to another, constantly busy. We feel guilty when we rest. We wear our exhaustion like a badge of honour. Something to be admired because it supposedly means we’re industrious, we’re not lazy, we can “do it all.” Our nerves frazzle, we lose our ability to think clearly, we become anxious or even depressed.
And in our frenzy living life at this pace, we often do the same with our dogs. We don’t go walking “with” them, instead we “walk them.” We believe we must give them a certain amount of exercise, which means they have to fit into our very busy schedule. Walk, Walk, don’t stop. We’re not here to sniff or even p*e. Walk, heeling by our side. All the time telling ourselves we are doing it for them. We’re told we should take them to dog training. Just another pressure on our already busy lives, but the dog won’t “learn” at the pace we expect of them. We don’t have time to let them think and work things out, because it doesn’t fit into our busy, stressful, go go go lives. We have unrealistic expectations, especially after seeing TV shows where “celebrity trainers” seemingly accomplish miracles in one or two sessions.
Some of us believe that the more we tire our dogs out, the more they will behave in the ways we expect them to. The old adage “a tired dog is a good dog.” The opposite is true.
When our dogs are over stimulated or don’t get sufficient rest, they too find it difficult to make good choices. Since we know that dogs experience emotions, it is not surprising to discover that being forced into our frantic lifestyle often results in them becoming anxious, fearful, and even depressed.
Shakespeare wrote “o sleep, o gentle sleep, nature’s soft nurse.” I am certainly no expert on Shakespeare, but I can vouch for the fact that slipping into a wonderful sleep and getting sufficient rest does wonders for my physical and emotional health.
I know it's not always easy. We have so many different things pulling at us. Family commitments, children at school, work, homes to manage. Despite that, let’s make a conscious effort to bring back balance into our lives, to connect with nature, to let go of busyness and unrealistic expectations, to slow down and allow ourselves and our dogs the rest that is so essential to our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.
Note: Check out the Slow Dog Movement https://www.slowdogmovement.org/ - they also have a page, as well as Slow Movement https://www.slowmovement.com/. There are various Slow Movement pages, including Global Slow Movement.
Photo used in the graphic is by Mark Zamora on Unsplash
