One Dog's Philosophy Of Life
My son Gus is a Boston Terrier who ended up larger than the average size for that breed. At about 40 pounds, he's not big enough to be a tough guy, which must be agreeable to him since he doesn't fight with the other dogs anyway. He tends to be pretty happy just going through life. He likes spending time with me, when he does bark it's worth a look - Gus doesn't bark at birds or leaves or other things moving about in the world. He hasn't had any health problems, he likes his dog food and doesn't chew holes in anything. He's a good boy. Wouldn't it be enjoyable to be that relaxed?
I was thinking about Gus today and realized that he has his own way of dealing with his surroundings. If he likes something, then he sniffs it. If he doesn't like something, he pees on it. That seems like a fine, non-stressful way to address whatever he encounters. He only uses the two options, either sniff or pee, and he must carry around 10 gallons of pee, because he can definitely express his displeasure regardless of how many things he runs across that he dislikes. And, once he's soaked his object of distaste, he's moving on and the now saturated target of his lifted hind leg is forgotten.
Gus hasn't asked for an appointment with a psychologist, he's not taking any medications for stress, he very rarely even drinks beer (it would be never but he can jump quite a distance and if he can get near my beer can, he generally slurps up a fair amount before I'm able to get my can back). That's quite a difference in behavior from a lot of people I know who are worn out from dealing with the dislikes of their lives and struggle to cope with their problems.
Gus the dog is smarter than a lot of us humans. While impractical in our own interactions with others, there is something to be said for Gus' answer to the dislikes of life. Don't like it? Pee on it. If we did that, we'd probably feel a lot better, too. Gus does. And that makes sense. Dogs are often smarter than people. And today, Gus likes the cowboy boots I am wearing, which makes me happy as well. He didn't pee on them.
I was thinking about Gus today and realized that he has his own way of dealing with his surroundings. If he likes something, then he sniffs it. If he doesn't like something, he pees on it. That seems like a fine, non-stressful way to address whatever he encounters. He only uses the two options, either sniff or pee, and he must carry around 10 gallons of pee, because he can definitely express his displeasure regardless of how many things he runs across that he dislikes. And, once he's soaked his object of distaste, he's moving on and the now saturated target of his lifted hind leg is forgotten.
Gus hasn't asked for an appointment with a psychologist, he's not taking any medications for stress, he very rarely even drinks beer (it would be never but he can jump quite a distance and if he can get near my beer can, he generally slurps up a fair amount before I'm able to get my can back). That's quite a difference in behavior from a lot of people I know who are worn out from dealing with the dislikes of their lives and struggle to cope with their problems.
Gus the dog is smarter than a lot of us humans. While impractical in our own interactions with others, there is something to be said for Gus' answer to the dislikes of life. Don't like it? Pee on it. If we did that, we'd probably feel a lot better, too. Gus does. And that makes sense. Dogs are often smarter than people. And today, Gus likes the cowboy boots I am wearing, which makes me happy as well. He didn't pee on them.
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