Everything I Learned From My Dog

Everything I learned about being a better human being, I learned from my dog.  I owned a dog when I was very young (about 7 years old) but we had to give him to a farmer back where we used to live because he just could not handle living in a small back yard with a family always on the go.  To quote Morgan Freeman from Shawshank Redemption, “Some birds just weren’t meant to be caged.”

I use the phrase owned very, very loosely for two reasons.  One- I don’t believe another living soul should ever be owned.  Two- Let’s face it…anyone who owns a dog knows very well that you do not own a dog.  The dog owns you.

My wife and I became fur baby parents together for the first time just over three years ago.  To say it changed our lives would be an understatement.  Like having a newborn, your lives become centered around your pup.  Schedules are juggled, plans are adjusted, and lives are planned according to your dog.  We keep Mila in her “house” when we are not home.  It’s her safe zone both for her and for us because who knows what antics she would be up to when we are not home?  So when she is in her house for eight hours a day, we feel insanely guilty coming home and letting her out and then leaving again.  Now we plan for puppy daycare on nights we know we are headed out for a social function.

Though we picked her up from a shelter when I could literally hold her in my hand, she is now a 72 lbs. lap dog.  She doesn’t know any different.

We made a rule when we first got her home that she would not be allowed on the couch.  That was an easy rule to enforce considering when we first got her she couldn’t even get up on the couch, she was that small.

Within months as she grew, she realized that where she wanted to be was up with us.  Often times she adjusted so that she was laying in between us making sure to touch us both.  Now, settling in after a long day at work she expects a bone when we get home and plants herself accordingly next to us.  It’s heaven both for her and for us.

What I’ve learned in the three years since she came into our lives, I try to apply to my life and my sales every day.

      1)      Loyalty.

The classic phrase that is always used is lock your spouse in a trunk and lock your dog in a trunk for three hours.  At the end of those three hours, open the trunk and discover who is happy to see you.  This pup lives for my wife and I.  When I’m not home on long game days, she is distraught.  It’s like a piece of her is missing and she never truly settles in until both mom and dad are home together.  Same rule applies if my wife is out in the evening and I’m home with her.  She will whine, she will pace, she will constantly stare at the door expecting her other parent home repeatedly until they do arrive.  When they do, she happily grabs her bone and hops up on the couch and proceeds to get to her task of devouring it.

This is one area that has always applied to me.  I’m a team guy through and through.  I’ve worked for two professional hockey organizations.  The first- in Memphis- I was a single guy living the life of a single guy working for a professional sports team.  Long hours were a regularity and encouraged. The second- the Syracuse Crunch- I’ve been happy to call my work home for 13 seasons.  While the hours have continued, I’ve continued to put the team first once I walk in that door.  I try to live by the motto of asking what you’ve done to make the organization better every day.  Any day where I can’t answer that question honestly with something I’ve contributed, I consider a disappointment.

      2)      Unbridled enthusiasm

My wife and I have had a consistent routine when we wake up in the morning.  We rise around 5:30 (she has to be at work by 7:30) and we get up early for a simple reason…you guessed it…our dog.  We like having her out for awhile from her house before we go to work in the morning. 

She doesn’t sleep with us.  That is one experiment that failed miserably.  We learned early on that because she is ultra-protective of us, with every bump in the night she goes into full alert mode, jumping at the opportunity to bark at any mouse fart in the dark to let them know that she is here to protect us and anyone out there should keep their distance.  So, sleepless nights in the rearview mirror, we decided that she would sleep in her house (which incidentally she has her own room for). 

But my God, when we wake up in the morning to say she is excited to see us every time would be an understatement.  When I get her out in the morning, she even does this 360 degree twirl inside her house because she is incapable of just sitting there waiting for me to open the door. She’s just that excited.  So as I shower and get ready in the morning, she usually sits in the living with my wife as she makes coffee and watches the news.  When I finished, my wife hits the bathroom and I take her on a walk to the park about a quarter mile from our house. 

The last few mornings, my wife has decided to take her on a walk while I get ready.  When I get done, I catch NHL Playoff highlights as my dog chews quietly on a bone.  Her universal symbol for I need to go to the bathroom has typically been to jump on the couch and stare at me, three inches from my face, then turn and look at the door.  Then turn and look back at me.  Then turn and look at the door.  So I figured this morning she had to go and I walk outside with her.  This morning she proceeded to stop just outside the door to our screened in porch and look up at me with a full smile.  Then she looked at the end of the driveway and looked back up at me.  I’m a sucker.  I knew she wanted another walk with me.  So I go back in the house, grab her leash and she goes nuts with excitement.

On her walks, she trots with a look like she is the queen of the world, her tiny ears flopping up and down in unison.  It always strikes me.  She doesn’t need fancy toys or tons of spoiling with said toys.  She just wants me and her walk.  Her pure joy of trotting around the neighborhood as she looks left and right sniffing the occasional items along the side of the road is all she needs.  She continues her Westminster lap with this odd smile on her face that all is right in the world.

She’s just thoroughly excited and enthusiastic about anything and everything.  It’s like every trip outside is a brand new day, a brand new experience, and she is overjoyed to see what it will bring.

                                                                                           

      3)      Love

Those of you that own dogs, know that they love everything.  Chasing balls, belly rubs, chewing on bones, long walks…the list is endless.  Everything they do they love unconditionally.  I try (and succeed) in applying this to everything I do.  Of course, it helps when you do what you love. 

 

It reminds me of the phrase “Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life.”  I love what I do.  Sure, like any job, there are days that are more of a struggle than others.  But at the end of the day, I work in an industry that I’ve always had the most passion for.  I worked long and hard in high school and college to attain the position I’m currently in today.  The biggest reason is that I never really felt like I was sacrificing other things in life to network enough to get into the industry.  I love what I do, and I love where I get to do it working for my hometown team that I grew up watching.

I also love my dog.  And I learn just experiencing her life with her everyday.