Lessons from my Dog
It’s currently 10am and our wee foster dog is napping. They have breakfast at 8am (try making it 8:05 at your peril!) and then proceed with a post breakfast nap. It’s actually quite a deep sleep, with pouncing paws, twitching snout and flickering eyes; the sound sleep of the full of tummy and content of mind.
My days recently have often started without breakfast (not good for someone who suffers from low blood sugar), with rushing into the day head first, scrabbling to tidy and tick off tasks from my ‘to do’. Since having our wee rescue doggy come to stay, I’ve been forced to slow down - they often choose my lap to take their nap on. Today they are, unusually, in their bed, stretched out, head resting on the corner, perfectly at peace with the world, perfectly content in the moment. Recently I’ve taken these moments of their rest as opportunities to sit with a cuppa and read or write and today is no different. Although I could technically get up and ‘do something’ - as the dog isn’t using me as a cushion - I’ve chosen not to. I’m writing this, with you in mind, with me in mind actually, on all those days I fail to ‘take a moment’ and simply do something for me - or do nothing other than grab a cuppa and sit still, thinking.
Our dog is happy and content in this moment and in many of their moments. When we first collected them they were fearful and cowering, typical tail-between-the-legs behaviour of uncertainty and fear. Love and routine have changed them into a more confident and much less fearful personality who can enjoy a nap or a game without concern. Often my fear and anxiety can stop me relaxing, stop me enjoying the moment, keep me worrying about what might happen instead of living the now. I touched on this subject in last week’s write and it’s certainly one I’ll be coming back to because it’s not a lesson I’ve yet learned, but rather a work in progress.
I’ve never been very good with routine and as someone who is self-employed I can pretty much fit in my work whenever I choose. My husband works retail shifts currently, so I rarely know what day it is and often struggle to implement anything habitually. Dogs thrive on routine and boundaries, so we’ve instigated certain non-negotiables like mealtimes, bedtimes, toilet and walks. It puts a certain structure in the day and is not a bad thing for me to work around. It’s a little bit of framework to hang things onto and I find I can work with it a little better than I thought I might. I plan to build on this, with a view to being more productive as a result.
Another thing our wee dog teaches us is enthusiasm for life, for whatever activity they’re involved in is always undertaken with full-tilt-boogy gusto, be it eating, sleeping, being affectionate or more recently, running round the garden doing zoomies. Nothing is lack lustre or half-hearted; everything is done with complete commitment, total engagement. As someone who’s often got an eye on ‘the next thing’ and the ‘something else’ this is definitely a lesson to take on board. If something takes 10 minutes or an hour, it’s still worth giving it your full attention. Our doggy loves their humans and gives us full unadulterated affection even if the obedience is lagging a little behind. When was the last time we gave our full attention to a task or even a person? It can make a big difference to how we engage.
A final observation for today is our dog’s unfailing forgiveness. If we leave them, tread on them (accidentally, of course) are late home, force them to go in the car (which they hate), put eye drops in, look into their mouth, in fact, any offence against them, is swiftly and completely forgiven. A keen, wagging tail countenance will always greet us, no matter how badly we behave (by doggy standards). It’s like whatever we did wrong has been buried and forgotten. Taking offence less and forgiving quickly are certainly good life lessons and would save us a lot of heartache.
I dare say, if I pay attention, there will be more insights to be had from our canine companion, so watch this space.
I hope one day I’ll be able to share their name and their photo with you, but sadly that won’t be today as we are contractually obliged by the Scottish SPCA to keep their information private.