Your Weekly Antics, Be Like Your Dog Edition...5-31-24

Well kids, we're at the end of May and the summer is quickly upon us. Hopefully you've all had a chance to enjoy this beautiful weather and gotten outside to soak up some sun. I know our dogs have, our lawn or lack thereof, is proof of it. Sitting around in the yard watching them recently got me thinking, they have the life. I wish I could be like them and run around barking at things all day. Why can't I? Here's what I've got...

1. Not all things that end up in your yard pose a threat, so don’ t jump to conclusions. Sit back, review the situation, think on it. Evaluate and reevaluate. Use your senses…does it make a noise? Smell bad? Is it moving around? You don't always have to bite - nothing good has ever come out of taking someone's head off. Sometimes that scary item isn’t what it appears once you take a better look. If it looks like a box, it may just be a box. All that worry for nothing, crisis averted.

2. Come when you’re called. If someone’s on their front porch calling your name over and over again, pay attention. Treats and other good things may come from it. Just because you’re being called on doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be put to work.  

3. To be your most productive, healthy and happy self, you have to take time out of your busy day to take care of you. Everyone else isn’t always going to recognize when you’re hungry, tired and in need of a nap. Sometimes you have to stop what you’re doing and rest or go outside and play in the sun to replenish your soul and remind yourself why it is you do what you do. The world was spinning long before you arrived on scene and will continue spinning long after you leave. Nothing’s going to come to a complete halt because you stopped patrolling your fence for a day. It's okay to stop, take a nap, or spend an afternoon lounging in your yard and relaxing, you don’t always have to be up at your fence chasing cars, the world will carry on.

4. Don’t make any life decisions when you’re hungry, tired, or both. Eating that entire birthday cake off the counter when no one was looking seemed like a good idea at the time, now you’re sick with regret. Just because no one’s looking, doesn’t mean you should make a hasty decision and eat that cake anyway. Take a minute to think on things before jumping up on the counter.

5. Choose your pack wisely. All it takes is one poorly trained ill-tempered dog in your pack to hurt someone and get your pack locked up. If you’re not careful, you’ll find yourself tied up in the yard instead of running free because of something that other dog did. Guilt by association.  

6. Once you choose your pack, trust them, protect them, love them, and stand by them even on their worst days. You chose that pack - they may be a little weird, or crazy, or different, but they're your pack. It's now your job to stick with them for better or for worse. They’re your people.

7. Don't pass up the opportunity to learn something new. If you open your ears and your eyes every once in a while, you may just learn something.

8. When out on a walk, hold hands and stick together. It’s scary and fun and interesting out in the world with all sorts of smells and experiences and sights to see. It’s better to do those things with others. Don’t underestimate the power and comfort you get from always having someone to watch your back and help you cross the street. But, in order to fully enjoy this, you have to learn to be independent, knowing you could take that walk off leash and find your way home by yourself if you had to. That makes taking that walk with your people when you choose to, all the more satisfying.

9. Listen to your gut. If it doesn’t feel right, smell right, look right, taste right, even if it looks okay to everyone else, it might not be right for you. Trust your gut and keep it moving.

10. Not everyone you meet is your friend. Some of the best most loyal people in your life who stick with you forever may not have that big fat juicy steak to entice you with, but all those other little tid bits and treats they do have to offer are even better. Those treats come consistently and without judgement. You don’t always have to do tricks and jump through hoops to get them; they're given to you because that person likes and accepts you just the way you are. Sometimes that big fat juicy steak is offered to reel you in - once you get tied up, you never see another steak again.   

And last but not least, take a chance and never pass up a ride in the car. Wind in your hair and sun on your face may just lead you to the greatest adventure of your life, or at minimum, a Dunkins drive thru and free donuts.

Have a great weekend!