7 Life Lessons I’ve Learned From My Dog

Some of you might be familiar with Logan. You may have seen him in the hundreds of photos I’ve posted on my personal Facebook page, because, how can you resist that face?

But, what you may not realize about Logan is that he has a knack for teaching you life lessons, even though he tends to use very few words in doing so. Sometimes, none at all.

But, when observed, there are many valuable things we can learn from both Logan, and all of your loving pets out in the world as well. Here are just a few that I have picked up along the way.

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It doesn’t matter where you are, it matters who you’re with.

Logan tends to follow you around the house. It doesn’t matter what room you’re going into or what you’re doing, he will come along with you and lay there for awhile while you’re doing whatever it is that your human self is doing. He doesn’t understand it nor could he do it himself, but he doesn’t really care.

All he is worried about is being around the people that he loves, because that’s what makes him happy and he understands that that’s what is most important in life.

Treat everyone with equal respect.

Whenever someone new comes into the house, Logan acts as if they are an old friend who he hasn’t seen in years. He is curious, inquisitive, and tries to get to know them as quickly as possible. Then, after a short period of running around like a wind-up toy, he settles down and stays by their side.

It doesn’t matter where someone is from, what they look like, what they do or don’t believe in, or what they do for a living – he loves and accepts them for who they are. If they’re nice to him, he will be nice to them.

Sometimes, it’s okay to just be alone.

As social as Logan is, sometimes he will disappear for hours at a time into his room and just hang out. He either takes a nap or watches some TV (Yes, you can often find him intently looking at the screen), but he goes off and does his own thing every once in awhile.

While he loves you and stays with you for much of his time, he is perfectly content being alone and just readjusting sometimes. We all need some downtime for our own personal reasons, whether it be to contemplate our life’s happenings, or to shut them out altogether for awhile.

Actions speak louder than words.

Logan, like some humans, isn’t great with using words to express himself. You won’t catch him telling you when he’s hungry or when he wants to play with his ball – but you will still know. How? Because he makes it known. You won’t hear him saying that he loves you, but you will know. How? Because he makes it known.

Logan understands that expression of thoughts and feelings doesn’t always have to be verbal, all that’s important is that someone feels the point you are trying to get across.

If someone loves you, you will know it and feel it. If they don’t, you will be wondering all the time if they do.

It’s okay to ask for help sometimes.

Some of us consider ourselves so independent or so self-sufficient, that we see it as a weakness to ask anyone for anything. Yet with Logan, you find that you want to help him with things. You want to help him get his ball from underneath the chair. You want to give him a treat just because. You want to do these things for no other reason than that it makes him happy.

This is how the people who care about us feel about us. It is okay to ask for help and not have to do everything yourself. It doesn’t make you weaker, it makes you self-aware enough to understand when you could use some support, and strong enough to ask for it. The people who care about you will want to do it for you to make your life easier.

Love unconditionally.

When Logan loves someone, he loves them no matter what. Sometimes they are not around as much as he would like, sometimes they take things away from him that they know are bad for him, and sometimes they don’t give him everything that he wants. But in the end, it really doesn’t matter because he loves them unconditionally.

Nobody in your life will ever be perfect or fill every little single need that you have, but as long as they don’t mistreat you, love them anyway.

Appreciate the little things, they mean the most.

It doesn’t take much to make Logan happy. All you need to do is entertain him for a little while, give him a few pieces of kibble, or snuggle with him on the couch. He doesn’t ask for anything more, because as mentioned earlier, he knows what is important.

Logan, like a child, tends to lay his toys all over the house. When he gets a new one, it is his best friend for days. But eventually, it finds its way into the (exceedingly large, I might add) pile of possessions he has accumulated. Yet, he often walks past them without a care. He will pick one up now and then, but mostly leave them behind to come sit or lay with you. Why?

Because Logan understands that while possessions are nice and can keep you busy for awhile, they will never bring you the same happiness as being with the people who you love and care about.

Logan may not speak or be as old as any of us who are reading this, but he will continue to bring us timeless lessons that will stay with us for life.

Thanks for everything, Logan. We love you, too.

Click here to get my new e-book, The Gentleman’s Advantage!

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