EVERYTHING Worth Knowing...

So I guess it is about time I explained this blog title! "Everything worth knowing I learned from my dog!" After all it is a strong statement to make. No I don't have genius dogs who know everything, but everything important in life was taught to me by my dogs. Let me explain.

I used to be just like the average person. My life revolved around me, money was the most important thing in the world, and if you didn't have it, I made a judgement call. (Sad I know, but it was once true.) Money and social position were everything to me. As a result I ended up with a battery of friends who were shallow and uncaring. Then I started working with dogs.

 Dogs are funny, they look at you and no matter what kind of a front you put up to convince the world you are someone else, they see right through it to who you really are. What's more? They make you see it too. Suddenly I was seeing my world through the eyes of my dogs, and it wasn't what I wanted to see. I wasn't who I wanted to be, hell, I wasn't even someone I liked!

I watched the dogs, and in time came to realize that they looked at life from a completely different angle than us humans. Firstly, dogs had no idea what money was so as a result did not worry about it, they just trusted everything would work out in the end, and it usually did. They did not look at a new rescue and ostracize him/her because of lack of income, job, or possessions. They accepted every new rescue that came into my home without question or pre-judgement. They did not look at a loss of limb or eyesight and say "I don't want to know THAT dog, he's a cripple." They just accepted that this dog was different, and would even work towards making his/her life easier.

Wow! I thought, dogs really take people (and other dogs) at face value! They accept everything the way it is, and deal! I started to examine my own reactions to things, and was not happy with the results. From that point on I began looking at everyone through the eyes of my dogs. Did you know, you meet the most interesting people when you stop worrying about appearances? I soon learned that lesson as I found myself befriending people that in the past I would have ignored for one reason or another. Perhaps they were jobless or missing a limb, or blind, but I was beginning to learn that none of those things mattered. I was learning tolerance, and compassion, I was learning what life was really about, and my teachers were dogs!

Now most people will tell you that dogs are incapable of logical thought, or feeling. They will tell you a dog can't reason, they will tell you they are just dumb animals. But I was learning something that would make me question everything humans thought they knew about dogs. It was then that I began my studies of dog behavior. It was then that I began to see the world in a whole new light.

I had always been one to panic in times of trouble, but the dogs were teaching me to deal with life as it happens. Take it head on, so to speak. Don't worry about what happened yesterday, yesterday is gone. Do not dwell on the past your future lies ahead not behind. What might happen three weeks from now will not be important until three weeks from now. Live in the moment!

I suddenly found myself INVOLVED in life instead of constantly worried about where it was going to take me. I began to experience more of everything instead of letting things pass me by while I worried about tomorrow. In other words I had finally learned that "yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that's why it's called the present." I was starting to LIVE not just exist!

Dogs run on instinct, they trust their own judgement. If they don't like someone it is not because that person drives a beat up old car, or hasn't worked in a year. If a dog doesn't like you it is because they instinctively know you are not a good person, they see it in you. You can't hide anything from a dog. I began to trust my dog's opinions of people, and they were seldom wrong. To this day, I take one of my dogs with me when meeting someone for the first time. If they react badly, then I know I must proceed with caution.

So in conclusion I give you this:

Perry Street Dogs Rules for Living

1.) Don't prejudge people according to looks or social status.
2.) Accept everyone for who they are.
3.) Live in the moment, life is better that way.
4.) Always help the next guy out, because one day you will be the one who needs help.
5.) Don't dwell in the past, it will hold you back from experiencing life to its fullest.
6.) Dance like no ones watching, sing like no one's listening, and love like today was your last day.
7.) Be YOURSELF!