We often hear of people being called ‘Old Souls’, wise beyond their years, the kind of people you reach out to when you think you are out of options or running into the proverbial brick wall.
In my life I have ‘had’ a number of dogs, all of them easily classified as ‘Old Souls’ in their own ways, even when they retain their sense of puppyhood deep into their senior years. But more on that below. My current fur-buddy, Miss Frieda, is an ‘Old Soul’ in spades, even when she is running around being a total loon. And she teaches me new things everyday!
So here goes my list of things my dog teaches me – with special acknowledgement to Rusty, PotLicker, Cheyenne, Lucy, Baxter and Miss Frieda:
- Live life in the moment – if there is a yummy cookie being offered don’t worry about the calories, just take it and enjoy it in the spirit in which it was offered (does not include alcohol or drugs or foods that may have you running back and forth to the loo in the next 24 hours).
- A lifetime is shorter than you think – Baxter was my longest living pet, from a wee pup to succumbing to cancer at age 13. There were times when I forgot he was on a shorter runway than I am, especially when he was being annoying (like stealing Sam’s hotdog off the table at lunch). At other times when I was busy he was ‘just there’, the big fuzzy lump on the living room rug. Don’t take your pets or anyone (fur-buddy or otherwise) for granted. You never know, when that someone you really care about is suddenly gone. I have been there and it messed me up for years.
- When you care about someone let them know – A dogs greatest anxiety is when you leave the house without them. Are you coming back? I can hear it in Frieda’s voice as I am walking down the sidewalk, that ‘not a bark, more a whimper / cry of anguish’ that tells me she misses me as soon as the door closes. Even when she is in the living room and I head down to my workshop she gets anxious and waits for me at the top of the stairs. Lesson here always let the people you care about know that you care about them. With Frieda if I am leaving the house or closing the door to my office even for an important call, I always precede the act with “I’ll be right back!”. Saying that I can actually see her anxiety level drop as she recognizes the phrase. With work colleagues, especially those 100% WFH like me, I like to blip them on Teams at the end of the day with “Have a great evening!”, not just a standard expression but letting them know that I am looking forward to working with them tomorrow. And guess what? Since I started doing that I get a slew of “Have a great evening!”‘s and “Good Morning!”‘s every day. Positivity breeds positivity! Which brings me to my next lesson.
- What’s the big deal with grumpiness – hey, I am human, I have good days and bad days, but I have noticed that when I am having a really rough day a wee brown nose will suddenly appear from under my desk just for a pet. Once I have given Frieda a pet or two and a scrunchy on her neck she will trot away. But for hours after that I will be MUCH less grumpy. I once posted a meme on Facebook about Bad Days being only 24 hours. But I highly recommend a dog if you have a stressful life, they can cure the grumpies in no time flat!
- Do more of the things you enjoy – My wife works very early in the morning, often leaving just after 6am. This leaves me a goodly hour before rushing into the breakfast-help with lunches-wait for the school pickup scene. I have found that that time is perfect for me for tinkering with an old laptop, tieing a paracord bracelet or playing with leather. Another good thing that Frieda has taught me. She knows that I get up early with my wife and that I am no good at popping back into bed until 6:30 so she will usually give me that quiet half hour or so then let me know when she is ready to get up, usually about 6:45. Then it is on with the leash, out the back door for a romp around the backyard or vigorous game of fetch. It definitely starts my day off on the right foot just chasing her around and forgetting about whats ahead for the rest of the day. As humans we usually think in terms of ‘todo lists’, the things we need to get off our plate before doing what we find most enjoyable. Dogs don’t care about todo lists, they do whatever they find enjoyable first! Definitely something we should consider!
- When you are tired, rest – Everyone who has ever been a dog-parent is permanently amazed at a dog’s ability to ‘crash’ on a moments notice, often for hours at a time. Again as humans we tend to be pushing through tiredness to get that todo list done, usually resulting in semi-permanent occupational grumpiness and burn-out long before our career ends. Before the Industrial Revolution people didn’t sleep for that magic 8 hours every night, they slept 8 hours or more in a 24 hour period. When the sun was too hot for working in the fields they would retreat to a cool, dark place and catch 40 winks. In the Spanish countries the afternoon siesta is still standard, shops even closing during the blazing parts of the day. My wife does that after her work day is concluded, popping into bed for an hour to refresh. Because my job is pretty well non-stop all day I prefer a wee nap after dinner, a half hour on the couch doing wonders for me!
- We are social animals – I’m a bit of a movie nut, constantly looking for new (and worthy) or old time movies to escape into for a couple hours (PlutoTV is good for that btw). Because my taste in movies is a bit different from my wife and son’s I tend to watch them alone. Even if the movie is not about dogs or food, Frieda will often join me on the couch, simply enjoying my company. For me there is the extra enjoyment of a contented dog snoozing with her head in my lap or one paw stretched out to touch my knee. It becomes very zen.
- Never underestimate your potential – I was once building a tree fort about 10 feet or so up a large fir in our backyard. While I was moving boards around the platform I kicked my hammer over the side. Grumbling to myself I finished moving the boards into place then turned to go down the ladder to retrieve my hammer. As I turned I saw a small red head at the top of the ladder with my hammer in his mouth (Miss Frieda is a dead ringer for Rusty btw). Rusty had literally climbed 10 feet up the ladder to give me the hammer! Needless to say he was my first guest in the tree fort! How many times have we looked up the ladder and thought it was far too high to climb? Rusty just put one paw ahead of the others and achieved his goal.
- Potential is directly proportional to curiousity – If you have ever had a hound you know that they spend most of their time with nose to the ground following a scent. I read once that hounds can detect distinct scents up to 20 miles away! That curiosity is a key life-skill for hounds, both in their working life and further back survival! Society tends to beat curiousity out of us as a way to reduce / eliminate competition and increase susceptibility / gullibility to mass messaging. When we retain our inate curiousity in the face of this ‘societal abuse’ our potential in our areas of interest vastly increases!
- And the most important lesson is our memories are a big part of who we are – Miss Frieda hasn’t seen my stepson in over a year and yet I know she will go absolutely zoomy crazy when he next comes to visit – even if that is years from now! Its the same with humans, I think, our memories forming a large part of who we are. On Facebook when I see posts by Angie, Lynn, Ed or any of my ‘old friends’ I can actually hear their post in their voices! And we have not as much as shared a cup of coffee in more than 40 years! Hearing their posts makes me smile inside even if it is a bad news post, simply because my memories of them are good and I am cognizant of the impacts they have had on my life, even if they are unaware. And it makes me smile again thinking that I have a chance to thank them, even if it is only in a post of my blog.
Cheers,
Mark