The Dog Days

The dog days of August are here.  What does that actually mean?  As I was wondering that, it made me think about our dog and how I might be able to learn a few things from her.  Here’s what I realized:

Take a Break – When things get a bit too much, our dog retreats to a safe, quiet place.  Once she is ready, she rejoins us in great spirits and is ready for anything.  It’s a great reminder to occasionally Pause (or should I say Paws?!), recalibrate and return refreshed.

Play Often– Our dog makes her own fun. Watch her play in the grass or water, chase a loaded Kong or interact with something she has “borrowed” from us and you can see and feel her pure joy.  We should play more and find the joy in whatever that is.

Enjoy Your Food  - We don’t need a clock in our house, because exactly(and I mean exactly) at 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. our dog is by our side giving us “the” look.  The it’s time to eat look!  As she watches us prepare her food, you can see her excitement, you can feel the anticipation and you can see the nourishment she gets from every morsel she eats.  Humans so often have a difficult relationship with food, but if we just took a lesson from our dogs it would all be so simple…pleasure + no guilt = healthy satisfaction.

Get Moving – It doesn’t take much to get our dog moving.  She runs to greet us at the door, walks whenever asked, chases rabbits and runs in circles for fun.  Dogs move without thinking about it, we could do the same…run to greet someone when they come through the door, walk whenever we can, chase our kids and do whatever is fun and active.

Be Curious  - If it’s new, old, smelly, big, small or whatever our dog will investigate.  She’s curious and seeks out answers.  We all could flex our curiosity muscle a bit more often, who knows what we might discover.

Socialize More – Our dog greets every dog she comes across, and does so with an openness to get to know them.  Imagine if we did the same thing?

So during the month of August, truly try to have a few dog days and see what happens…it might just be woofderful.