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Think my doggies are my surrogate kids? Think again. Great as humans are, dogs let me experience me a different level of joy, love, care, and wisdom.
How I wish I’d begun to become a student of dogs way earlier. Growing up, I learned to be too nice, too accommodating, and accepting of bad treatment. If only I’d had dogs as a child!
Since caring for them, I’ve learned how what’s good for them is good for myself, too. Daily, training them teaches me about happiness and healthy relationships. One overarching lesson is that we teach others how to treat us.
My dogs patiently show me about boundaries…
- What boundaries I need and want. It’s okay to need and want them.
- What makes a harmony family.
- What dogs are capable of and what’s reasonable to expect from them, in terms of trusting them to learn, remember, and do.
- That boundaries are best communicated clearly and nonjudgmentally. If they go unheeded, I can try other ways.
- Patience and consistency are essential.
Keeping them physically and emotionally healthy benefits both of us…
- Walking my dogs daily means I walk too. It’s a time to bond. For dog and human alike, walking and playing heals mind, body, and soul.
- Together, we meet our neighbors.
- It’s easy to think I’m too busy for play and walks. They’ve taught me I shouldn’t overextend myself.
- They’re always happy to see me! When I’m not thrilled to come home to loved ones and myself, I need to work harder to nurture social and personal havens.
- Angels exist, and they’re not just dogs. For all the times I worried that I wouldn’t have the resources to keep pets, people have stepped forward. Striving for independence is great, yet my dogs remind me that everyone and everything in the world are interdependent.
- Cesar Milan, a.k.a., The Dog Whisperer, often talks about the importance of choosing pets who match our energy levels. Appreciating compatibility affords me insights into myself and others.
- Trust requires time. Every day is another chance at building and rebuilding trust.
Few things can match how, when I leave my home for only a short while, my dogs’ eyes shine with pure joy when I return. We don’t have to be dogs to show appreciation.
Have your pets made you a better human?
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Thank you for sharing!!.. dogs are like young children, they follow their hearts instead of society… I would like to have another dog but circumstances prevent me from properly caring for them… 🙂
JUST MY DOG
He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds;
My other ears that hear above the winds.
He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea.
He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being:
By the way he rests against my leg
By the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile
By the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him.
(I think it makes him sick with worry when he
is not along to care for me.)
When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive.
When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile.
When I am happy, he is joy unbounded.
When I am a fool, he ignores it.
When I succeed, he brags.
Without him, I am only another person. ,With him, I am all-powerful.
He is loyalty itself., He has taught me the meaning of devotion.
With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace.
He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant.
His head on my knee can heal my human hurts.
His presence by my side is protection against, my fears of dark and unknown things.
He has promised to wait for me…, whenever…wherever–in case I need him.
And I expect I will–as I always have.
He is just my dog.
(Author Gene Hill…)
Hope all is well in your part of the world and until we meet again..
May the love that you give
Always return to you,
That family and friends are many
And always remain true,
May your mind only know peace
No suffering or strife,
May your heart only know love and happiness
On your journey through life.
(Larry “Dutch” Woller)
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what a lovely poems, both of them!
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[…] Source: Love and Boundaries: Dog Lessons + Podcast – Happiness Between Tails by da-AL […]
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thanks for the reblog, Ned!
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It’s so important to have a loyal companion. I want a dog even more now!💕 🐶
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[…] have enhanced my life in many, many, many, many, […]
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Yes!!! I hope that I’m far better because of them. A wonderful post. Thank you 😊
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😀
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