Do you have any idea how hard it is to snack in front of a constantly hungry, nine-inch tall ball of fur with eyes that make you melt on the inside? It always reminds me of that scene from Aladdin where he tries to eat his hard-earned piece of bread and then those painfully adorable street kids give him puppy eyes and he breaks down and gives it away...
Anywho, the point is that dogs are on a pretty strict eating schedule - one where they're almost always hungry. This is something that I think we can learn from. We humans have a tendency to eat to the point of fulness and continue to eat out of boredom, stress and habit. So it's nice to have that constant reminder to put down the frozen Snickers bar and go out for a walk.
Which leads me to my second topic...
2. Walking
Never underestimate the power of this very simple act. Walking with your dog is a great way to assert dominance, provide exercise and (of course) have a little fun with your pup. Some great "pack leading" tips which have basically saved my life when it comes to being a dog owner came from the one and only Cesar Millan.
But here's the thing about walking your dog - it's not only good for them, it does wonders for you! Take the teeny-tiny nook of a country Andorra: with the highest life-expectancy in the world (83.52 years) experts have attributed their longevity to physical activity. Walking, to be exact! It turns out that a great portion of the population are shepherds, and even those who aren't spend many-a-minute on their feet each and every day. So don't think that just because you aren't downing protein shakes and pumping iron at your local gym that you aren't treating your body to an age-old health related ritual.
3. Sleeping Hours
This morning I awoke to a very warm little ball of fur nipping/licking at my face at 7:15 AM. As I type this entry, that very same little ball of fur is curled up at my feet fast asleep in puppy never never land - it's 9:07 PM. The point I'm trying to make is that no matter how slow or fast paced our day may be, Lawrence will consistently fall asleep when the sun goes down and get up when (you guessed it) the sun comes up. This is something that, as a young twenty-something living in modern day times, I have to admire.
The blessing of having a dog (or one amongst many, I should say) is that no matter how late you had to work last night, or how dead-tired you are the next morning, when the sun rises you're getting up. Some mornings are harder than others, but when you and your dog get into the neighborhood and you see the early-bird runners out and about and the dew from last-night's sprinklers still coats the ground (I love that smell!) you seem to feel like you can't believe that you ever thought about sleeping through it all.
And as we've all heard before (and yet never seem to take into account), is "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
4. Playtime
It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon and you're furiously typing your thesis that's due the next morning. You're spending the day staring at a screen working hard to ensure that your PowerPoint presentation is ready to go for this evening's meeting with a couple of clients. You twist your hair as you flip through the endless pile of documents that you need to cover for the upcoming case...
You get the picture.
These are scenarios that nowadays are all too common in our everyday lives. So where does your dog come in? Well, remember how I mentioned the puppy-eyes scene in Aladdin in example one? Well, this is pretty much the same thing.
Each and every time I'm stressing out about the next deadline that seems to be approaching ridiculously fast, Lawrence will quickly remind me that there's more to life than work. Pick up the ball. Go to the park. Throw the ball. Roll in the grass. Explore. Breathe. Live. Play.
It's these little breaks that truly do strengthen your focus and help in creating a better product and overall outcome.
5. Affection
I have a terrible cold. Despite how much I'd love to be a kid again and have my mom feed me chicken noodle soup while I get to watch an endless amount of cartoons (in her bed too!) I have to face the hard truth: I am a grown up.
Yuck.
As I sit on my couch (Netflixing Ugly Betty, of course) I have my trusted hideous blanket wrapped round my body and a one-gallon trash can overflowing with used Kleenex close by. But as I sit wallowing in my own misery, Lawrence cuddles up close, licks my cheek and is kind enough to indulge in reruns by my side. These are the moments that make all of the "pee-on the carpet/I can't believe he chewed that!" fiascos worthwhile. At the end of the day, Lawrence will always be there. This is a comfort that brings peace of mind - a key to reaching overall health of both the body and soul.
6. Selflessness
I have to say, I think this is the most obvious of all of the gifts that our canine companions have to offer. When I first adopted Lawrence, I had what my family has now sarcastically deemed, a "free puppy moment." So there I was. He's so cute. He's totally free. They can't afford him. He'll be my new best friend.
And all of these statements turned out to be true...
But what I didn't realize is the 12-15 year commitment to consistently be the caretaker to another living, breathing being that I was about to undertake. I cannot leave the house without thinking about how long I'm going to be gone, how the weather will be, what forms of entertainment I need to leave/take, how much puppy food I need to bring, whether dogs will be allowed at my destination or not etc...
These are all the same questions that a parent must ask themselves when caring for their children. When you're young, you focus on your career, your lovelife, your friends and what your next adventure will be - needless to say, what all of these activities boil down to is you and how you feel. So, when all of a sudden you're forced to care for someone else, you realize just how focused on yourself you've managed to be throughout the years.
Don't get me wrong - there's absolutely nothing wrong with focusing on yourself. But once you take the timeout to become a true companion to another living thing, it's hard to go back to being the selfish person you once were.
7. Getting in Touch with Mama Nature
This is what I like to think of as the integration of all of the aforementioned reasons why having a dog makes you a healthier person. What it really boils down to is the fact that dogs open your eyes to a world that we once knew and that deep down inside, we still know and yearn for. They allow us to see what's really important: food, shelter, love, discipline, fun, and (as always) friendship.
Woof woof,
Karima
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