The wisdom that I glean from working with dogs is endless.
To me, they’re better than any spiritual text, self help book or sangha. In a word, they are my guru. All dogs have the capacity to love unconditionally and to give with abundance. They’re humble, selfless, and they act according to what’s best for the pack. They seek to avoid conflict at all costs. They’re not motivated by material possessions, greed or lust. They have no ego!
They’re capable of laying down and just ‘being’ joyful and peaceful for hours on end. Their senses are exceptionally honed, and they’re hard wired to live their lives in the present moment. Our species would do well if we could learn how to do just a few of these things ourselves. We’d do even better if we did them often (and we'd be enlightened if we ‘lived them’ all the time).
Unfortunately, most of us live in a different world than that... one that’s filled with worry, doubt, and ‘what ifs’. Our world is stressful, and our stress transfers into our pets... this stress (or negative energy) accumulates inside them and can potentially manifest as undesirable, nervous, timid, aggressive or over excited behaviours.
One of the things that I focus on when I’m handling dogs is being more mindful about living in the present moment.... being ‘here’, especially from the dog’s point of view....never taking a moment off... never taking a moment away from ‘leading’.... always mindful that I’m calm and gentle, yet direct and loving. In other words, I practice being as in tune with them and their perspective of the environment as they are with me and my surroundings.
This allows me to make skillful distractions or non-harming corrections ‘in the moment’, and it allows the dogs to understand what it is I actually want them to do.... or not do.
The more mindful we are about being present, the more gentle, loving and effective we can be as our dog’s leaders, teachers and parents. The more they’ll trust our decisions, respect our commands, and give back to us in ways we didn’t think were imaginable.
