It’s a Dog’s Life

On nights when I am having trouble falling asleep, I relax my mind by listing the things in my life that I am grateful for and why. Each time, second on my list, right after my amazing spouse, are my dogs, Jessie and Rockie. Tonight as I thought about what my dogs bring to my life I began thinking about the lessons they teach me.

Last summer we brought a puppy home. Rockie, a lab-cross, is now one year old and it has been a fascinating year. Watching her explore new experiences with a fresh and innocent perspective reminds me to be open to the wonder in every day activities. As she encounters new surroundings or people or objects, she tentatively examines them from a distance, inevitably runs back to us for safety and comfort, and then forges ahead with her exploration until one by one she familiarizes herself with them. It is a great lesson in courage and adventure even in the presence of fear.

Rockie is also a role model for learning by example… even if it wasn’t always the example we wanted her to follow. We made the miscalculation with our older dog, Jessie, of not taking her to puppy class when she was young and thus she developed some bad habits - like being overly aggressive to other dogs on our daily walks. On our walks we could see Rockie learning from Jessie just how dogs are “supposed” to behave. As we passed a yard with a dog, Rockie would look at Jessie and observe the snarling and barking. Then Rockie would turn towards the yard and bark and snarl, stop to watch Jessie to ensure she was doing it correctly, and turn back to the offending dog to continue barking and snarling. Now that I think about it, that behaviour really yields two lessons - observing and learning from others is effective, and be careful who you choose as role models.

Jessie, a seasoned veteran at 10 years old, has her own lessons to teach. Every now and again Jessie has trouble with her hind leg and avoids putting weight on it when she stand up after lying down for a period of time. However at any time while she is hobbling around on her three good legs, should someone mention “walk” (or even a word sounding remotely like walk), Jessie perks up and bounds about in excitement. She loves her walks and nothing is going stand in her way of enjoying them. It lets me know that often the only thing required to overcome common aches and pains (physical or metaphorical) is taking joy in an activity and participating in it with exuberance.

Other valuable lessons my dogs have taught me are: show affection frequently; keep track of what’s going on in the neighbourhood (sniffing optional); get to bed first to claim the best spot; and, my favourite, nap often.

  Thanks, Jessie and Rockie.