Five things we can learn from our dogs

[Music] hi again i was thinking recently about the popular phrase it's a dog's life and it set me wondering what it is about dogs what they bring to their life that perhaps allows them to have a life that many people see as admirable and i came up with five different things five categories of things that might contribute to helping you have a dog's life the first of these is remembering that tomorrow is another day dogs are amazingly forgiving even in situations of extreme neglect they're able to trust again that love is able to shine through and they can move on so they don't hold grudges they let that bad stuff go so they can move forwards we have a habit of focusing on the negatives and use up time and energy on the negatives that we could direct in a more positive way we create the problem because our mind swoops in on that crazy roller coaster of what if this what if that whereas dogs i don't think really overthink problems they don't dwell on them like we do and magnify the issue they take each day as it comes they forgive they forget and they move on and i think that can be a really valuable lesson for us in helping our own peace of mind they're also amazingly good at appreciating the little things in life or things that to us seem like little things if you ask people what they want in life you could get quite a long list that involves the need for time and the need for money they might want to shine a new car they might want a bigger house they could want a fabulous holiday they'd like to retire early what would your dog's answer be to that question they might want more time with you time with cuddles a slow meandering walk with lots of opportunities to sniff a warm cozy bed at night some decent food and a spot to snooze by the fire or in the sunshine depending on when it is sometimes we forget that life gives us an awful lot and we're so busy aspiring to the next achievement the next thing whatever we're saving up for that we don't put aside time to appreciate what we already have what is there in those moments that we do have so i think we can learn from dogs to appreciate the little things in life a little bit better so the third thing that struck me is that dogs seem to take time to be present when we focus on our thoughts usually that means we're living either in the past or in the future we're thinking about something that's happened or is going to happen we're planning ahead we're looking back and we're not actually living in the present moment by focusing on the here and now we tune in to a key concept in mindfulness that being present to the moment and able to experience each moment as it arises and be fully present now i think our dogs are tuned in to the present moment they don't generally seem to daydream in in my experience they're either doing it they're thinking it or they're stopping they pay attention to our body language so they often know what we're doing before we do it they interpret our mood from our expressions from changes in our body that they can sense and we may not even notice mindfulness meditation can be performed with an object and quite commonly when you start the object that's recommended is your breath because your breath is always with you but what about meditating on your dog's breath the rhythmic flow of breath is calming and what better thing to be present to than your dog so next time you're sitting quietly on the sofa with the dog and they're snoozing maybe a few moments of being present to your dog ignoring the television or the book or the conversation but being present to your dog breathing and sleeping they also remind us to take time out i think human beings in general and definitely me are focused on doing and dogs are much more about being they don't generally have a to-do list or if they have one it's quite a general one like get up have a walk get fed have a snooze and they may know when those things are meant to happen in the day but overall life just unfolds and they just go with the flow dogs are unusual in retaining their love of play into adulthood that's something not common in animals in general play is seen in young animals but not typically in older ones to the same degree and it's thought that this is something that endears dogs to us this interesting play and this childlike quality that they have so why not let that playfulness rub off on you so you can take time out to enjoy yourself as well let them inspire you to have fun let them inspire you to let your hair down and let them inspire you to take a rest and my fifth area was that they appreciate their connection with others dogs are very social animals just as humans the social animals and the bond between people and dogs is a product of tens of thousands of years of evolution and since the beginning of settlements when the hunter-gatherers settle down in one place and started farming dogs have been on the scene and have evolved from the proto-dog or the wolf that came to check out those settlements into the dogs that we know of today now as john don said no man is an island and no dog is an island either so let your connection to your dog connect you to a bigger world and try to see things from their perspective as well as your own so i hope that's given you a few things to think about some thoughts on a dog's be back again soon with more videos for you bye for now look out for new videos every monday and why not subscribe so you don't miss out you

Channel: JW Canine Care

Views: 1,269

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Id: xD0AL6XTzJU

Length: 6min 58sec (418 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 14 2022