I am thankful every day that I was able to grow up with many family pets. When I moved into my own home, I took my affinity for animals with me. After decades of pet ownership, I’ve certainly learned a lot from my animals, but canines have definitely been the best teachers.
When I think back on all the life lessons that my furry friends have taught me, these 10 stand out.
1. If you have a feeling about someone, go with it. Dogs know as soon as they encounter someone if they like that person or not. We had someone come over once, and it was the first and only person one of our dogs growled at. There was something about her, but I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Turns out, she wasn’t a good person to have around.
2. No matter how much you fight you still love each other.. Family is family…period. Our dogs fight over food, the couch, and often they fight for no reason. At the end of the day, they are all curled up together cleaning each other’s ears. No matter how much you fight, family always sticks together. When times get tough, you will only have your family to help you.
3. When the storms come, you always need a friend My dog is scared of thunder. She has to have medication so she doesn’t get herself all worked up. She never gets in the recliner with me, except when it thunders. She is so scared, that she just jumps right up for a hug. Life is scary sometimes. Keep a friend around for the tough days.
4. There’s nothing wrong with a good nap My grandmother hated naps. She said only lazy people took naps. She compared naps to wallowing in bed like a pig. I loved, and still love, naps. What is wrong with a good nap? Nothing. My dogs have confirmed it to me. The old saying “Let sleeping dogs lie” is so true. Sometimes, it is true for people, too.
5. Always be alert. Our dogs are always ready for anything. The dogs spring into action with the slightest sound. One day I was in the kitchen and the dogs ran in and almost knocked me over, barking like crazy. I started fussing, but then I noticed a mouse scurrying along the side of the refrigerato.
6. Scratching doesn’t always make itches go away. One of my fur babies has chronic eczema. No matter how much he scratches, he still itches. Sometimes if he just gives it a rest, he can doze off and get some relief. The same goes with grouchy people. Ignore them, and they usually go away.
7. Don’t be jealousWhen we are petting any of our animals, one dog always gets jealous. What do we do? We stop giving her attention. We don’t want her taking out her jealousy on the others, so we just ignore her. The other cats and dogs avoid her as well. When a person is jealous and grouchy, people don’t want to be around them either.
8. There’s usually enough to go around. Our dogs get protective and don’t like anyone even looking at their food. What they can’t see is that there is enough to go around. By fearing that they won’t have enough, they take from others. It shows me that I can be generous. I don’t have to horde things and money. There is enough to go around if everyone would adopt a generous attitude.
9. Make sure before you bark. Everyday my dogs get all worked up over the mailman. The mailman comes at the same time everyday whether they bark or not. They cannot learn that some things they cannot change, but I should. If I can’t change something, no amount of griping and yelling, or fear and anger, will change that.
10. Every day is a new day My dogs don’t hold grudges. Whether they were filled with fear from thunder, filled with shame from a scolding, or filled with sadness from a loss, every day is a new day. They wake up happy. The failures from yesterday are forgotten and the new day is greeted with happiness and hope. This is the greatest lesson I learned from my dogs.
