That's Right, The Dogs Are Smarter

We don't deserve dogs.

 

I need this tee-shirt.

This simple meme really says more about us than it does about Man's Best Friend. Just read the daily news, scan Facebook or Twitter timelines or watch the nightly news, it's clear: we can be awful to each other, to the environment, to animals.

Given time and opportunity, we can be pretty much awful to anything.

Rather than leave it at people are awful beings, I think its time to go further than saying we don't deserve dogs to What we need to learn from dogs.

1.    Savor the awkward and the smelly, and roll around in it.  

I'm pretty sure Mister Charley has no idea when he and/or his breath is stinky. Beauty thing is that he does not care a whit. He's here, he's stinky, he's sleepy and he ain't going anywhere.

And guess what? His comfort in all of the above makes me forget about all of the above, and before you know it, this happens.

It was a smelly time, my friends. A very smelly time.

      

The Lesson: What if we could get over our own perceived flaws? Not gonna lie, it's a daily  struggle for me to let go of the days when I thought I was fat, but am now for real fat and wistfully wishing for those days when I thought I was fat. What would happen if I'd just get over myself and be a blessing to someone by being who I am right now in this point and time in  my life?

2.    Bark when something smells wrong...and keep barking until someone gives you a credible reason to stop barking.

It was about 1:30 in the morning when Charley let out a slow, serious, ominous guttural growl followed by a short, quick bark. He was in the bathroom, upset that guest towels had been rearranged in a way unfamiliar to him. You're fine, I grumbled from the bed, Go night-night time! and tried to resume my place in an unusually good dream.

More growling, more barking. I dragged myself out of bed, stumbled into the bathroom and flipped on the light. See? It's okay...it's just the towels, honey. He understood, went to his bed  and was asleep in less than five minutes.

The Lesson: In the times in which we live, with so many funny looking smells that don't add up to the stories we're being fed, we need to bark. And bark. And keep on barking until the truth is turned on like a blinding light.

3.    Be unapologetically scared when things are scary, and seek comfort.

Our Charley is cool in the most violent thunderstorms and snoozes right through them, but man-made noise and clutter? Something within alerts him that manufactured bangs and booms are not cool...and perhaps dangerous.

And that’s when he seeks help from people like me. His mumma.

Not a stinky time, just Independence Day season. . He had sense enough to reach out for help.

The Lesson: How many times are we in situations or places that leave us unsettled or frightened and choose to bear it alone instead of sharing our fears with a trusted person or persons? Charley's got no signs of anxiety-induced ulcers...but me?

We don't deserve dogs, that much is true.

But I'll gladly take the lessons they grace us with every time, and hopefully become a better, smarter human being because of them.