Lessons from a Labradoodle
The alarm sounds, groggily I roll over and call for George our 4-year-old mini-labradoodle. He starts each night in our bed, then at some point hops off and sleeps in his own bed at the foot of ours and sometimes wanders into the spare bedroom where he gets a full bed to himself.
I hear the jingle of his tags as he hustles down the hallway, turning the corner to our room with what always appears to be a smile on his face. He hops into the bed and settles down between my wife and I to ride out the last of the snooze.
Over the years watching George, or the G-Man as we call him, I feel like every day I say to my wife “I wish I was more like the G.” There are so many lessons we can learn from how he approaches every day, a few of them are below.
1) Never Not Ready: That’s how we describe George and one of the qualities that I would love to incorporate more into my own life. He’s up for anything no matter the situation and he’s not just up for anything, he’s beyond stoked for whatever we decide to do. Mornings are a great example, he’ll be curled up on the quilt between us and all I have to do is say “G are you ready?” and he hops up, leaps off the bed, tail wagging, ready to go. There’s no snooze button for him, no waiting until it warms up or he’s had his coffee. It’s go time and whatever it is he’s juiced to get after it.
2) It’s the Journey: The amazing thing about dogs is they have no idea where we are going when we head out the door. But it doesn’t dampen their excitement. George just loves to be out there going. He doesn’t care if we summit a mountain, or if there’s a great view along the trail. He doesn’t care if we are just walking to the mailbox or down the block for a bathroom break. There are amazing smells along the way, doesn’t matter where we end up to him the most important part is the journey and he’s in the moment the entire time.
3) Empathy: The G knows when things aren’t right. How he knows I have no idea, but when you’re down he’s there. No judgement, no telling you what to do, just there for you. He’ll curl up next to you on the couch, sit by your feet, put his head under your hand creating a connection. Sometimes you don’t want someone to tell you how to feel or react, what to do next, what they would do in your situation. Sometimes you just need someone to let you know they are there for you and George is a master at that.
4) Meet the Neighbors: When we got George, we didn’t know many people on our block, we walked and ran the paths around our place but mostly with headphones on and didn’t stop to talk to people we didn’t know. George changed all that, he was like a key that unlocked a community we didn’t know existed. Suddenly everyone wanted to talk, pet our dog, introduce themselves. We had a routine and saw the same people each morning walking the lake and they went from strangers to friends. We were invited over for parties, dinners, got holiday cards. We not only saw these folks walking George but then started to notice them around the city, they introduced us to others and soon it felt like our network had more than doubled. Everywhere we went it seemed we would run into someone we knew, almost always thanks to a connection George helped us make.
5) Unconditional Love: This is the best thing about G and something everyone could incorporate into their lives. It doesn’t matter if I go to the mailbox or am gone for a month, George greets me like we’ve been apart way too long. He’s so happy when we come home, tail wagging, jumping up for kisses, bouncing in circles. You could come home from a long, hard day at work and once you open that door and see him your mood immediately lifts. You can’t help but smile and that has the ability to change your whole outlook on things. Whatever was on your mind it can wait. Imagine if you greeted your spouse, family and friends with this same type of enthusiasm every time they walked in the door. They would feel so incredibly special and loved it would lift their mood every time. It’s one of the best parts of having the G around and something I try to emulate in my own life.
Having a dog is not right for everyone but the lessons learned from having one are something we can all take to heart. I am so grateful for everything George has brought into our lives and how I continue to learn from him.
