Life Lessons from Our Dogs
Last week, KG and his team were relaxing after the hard day’s work at our farm. Suddenly, they heard loud and incessant barking of our three dogs, Copper and Carbon (Dobermans) and Nickel (Grey Mastiff). KG saw them barking and moving around something in a circle from far. He realized that something was amiss. He rushed towards them. Seeing him come near them, Nickel ran towards KG and stopped him midway. KG tried to move ahead but our big boy wouldn’t just let him take even a step further. It took a moment for KG to understand what it was all about. There was a black cobra on the farm. Soon, it was guided to move further ahead into the wilderness. This incident made us learn a very important lesson that day.
And the more we reflected on it, the more we realized that there are so many life lessons we can learn from our four-legged friends. Sharing a few of the life lessons from our dogs…
- Protect your territory : A stranger /first timer on our farm has a tough time entering our premises, thanks to our three canines. They are fiercely protective. They’ll fight anything to save us from any danger.
- Let go and move on: Despite the reprimands our dogs get for polishing off the dinner that lay unattended for a while at the farm, or for biting / terrorizing some people … they never hold a grudge or harbour resentment. They forgive and forget easily and move on and are back to their loving self pretty soon.
Aaryan and Nickel
- Show love in big and small ways : From laying their heads on our laps when we are sitting or never leaving KG’s side at night to barking wildly and jumping up and down when we meet them after a while, our dogs let us know we are loved every single day.
- Be understanding : The other day, a major sandstorm caused quite a havoc at the farm. As KG and his team huddled together and waited for the storm to pass, the three of them sensed the mood and the low energy around. Without any verbal language, they understood and comforted KG and sat close to him. They know the power and importance of ‘being there’ for somebody.
- Sizes and titles aren’t everything : Copper and Carbon are siblings and are with us since they were a few months old. Nickel came on our farm just by chance. His earlier master could not take care of him, and requested KG to take him in on the farm. Carbon and Copper were babies and acted like a team in front of the old, giant and imposing sized, Nickel. But they just took a day to get acquainted with each other and learnt to live peacefully and happily together.
Carbon and Copper
- Be loyal and dependable : When Nickel joined us, he was sick and weak and had a big wound too. KG took great care of him and by the grace of God, Nickel recovered pretty soon. A dog knows what and who is important in his life and sticks by them, no matter what!
- Love unconditionally : Nickel drools and slobbers a lot. His saliva is so slimy that it takes some effort to wash it off. A cleanliness freak like me hates his sticky mess. How much so ever I try to thwart his attempts, he’d always greet me with his big wet (and sticky) kisses and wagging of his tail. He is never afraid to show how much he loves despite me being mean to him.
- Enjoy the simple pleasures in life : Life is fun for our dogs. They greet each day with enthusiasm and a sunny outlook. They can play with a log of wood with equal zeal as with a chew toy bought from a pet store. The way they attack food with gusto and lick their plates clean makes me wonder if we are feeding them right. A ride in the car is as fun as is the ride in the lorry truck. Taking naps and stretching is important for them. No joy is too small for them to appreciate.
Our dogs have enriched our lives, but even more so, they have taught us some of the greatest life lessons.
Linking this to Write Tribe Festival of Words #4 Day 7 for the theme Creativity and Inspiration!
June 7, 2015 4:16 pm|
That reminds me: I too need to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Off to sleep . . . 😛
Destination Infinity
PS: Wow, Nickel seems to be one Big Dog 🙂
June 7, 2015 4:57 pm|
LOL 😀 Hope you had a good one! 🙂
Yes, Nickel is our big sweet boy! 🙂
June 9, 2015 8:57 pm|
LOL 😛
June 7, 2015 4:42 pm|
Adog in the family is a great blessing.He not only protects the house but becomes the best friend with the children.
June 7, 2015 5:00 pm|
True, like somebody said, dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole!
June 7, 2015 4:50 pm|
You know how much I love dogs. Very unique and lovely names you’ve chosen for them.
June 7, 2015 5:11 pm|
I know and your Coco is a darling! One of our friends have named their dogs after international currencies like Dollar, Lira, Ruble.
Inspired by them, we thought of naming our pets after metals and their colors. Carbon is Black, Copper is Brown, and Nickel is Grey, hence these names for our dogs 🙂
June 7, 2015 7:52 pm|
So many of the same lesson I received from my daughter 🙂 loved this.
June 7, 2015 8:23 pm|
They are so protective of their masters. We have had experience. Our neighbors will come to our home often and they are familiar to our dog. If they come our dog won’t be bothered. But one day our neighbor came, we were not home, and our daughter was alone. Our dog stood between the neighbor and our daughter and never allowed the neighbor to take one step forward.
June 7, 2015 9:44 pm|
I so relate with this…Every day is a learning with our dog “Tripsy”
I am always amazed by their selfless love. Nice post!!
June 8, 2015 9:43 am|
we have been toying with the idea of getting a dog – but logistics have stopped us from going ahead with it…
I do hope that one day we do have dogs in our home as well 🙂
June 8, 2015 10:52 am|
Great life’s lessons from your dogs and what dogs they are! I mean, what dogs you have! 🙂 How wondrous they are in protecting KG as their love is so unconditional. Awesome dogs…love the names for your Dobers based on their colours. 😉 <3
June 8, 2015 11:46 am|
beautiful life lessons Shipla! I think we can all learn a lot for our pets 🙂 have a blessed week!
June 8, 2015 12:37 pm|
I’m super scared of dogs.. but these life lessons that you posted are really very true!
Especially that one about dogs sensing the emotions of the people surrounding them.. The dogs in my area always figure out I’m scared whenever I pass by them, and hence start barking! 😀
June 8, 2015 12:56 pm|
love unconditionally and letting go is something we might never be able to fully! there will always be that iota of expectations tying us up! but these lovely creatures have so much to teach us!
June 8, 2015 3:30 pm|
If only people could show the same attributes you’ve named in your dogs. What wonderful companions dogs are to us. Give then a pat for me.
June 8, 2015 4:06 pm|
I am already in love with their name. Carbon and Copper!! 😀 Dogs can be so protective and loyal that it puts humans to shame. Reminds me of my beautiful dogs 🙂
June 8, 2015 6:52 pm|
I love all the 3 dogs, as well as their names! I used to be very scared of dogs once upon a time, but then I stayed at a friend’s place for a week, and she had one of the smartest German Shepherds in the world. That’s when I fell in love with them.
I’m still wary of street dogs though. And of over-friendly dogs. I take time to open-up and decide whether I want to like someone or not… be it a 2-legged creature or a 4-legged one. So I don’t like dogs who immediately jump on me for being friends. But, I have noticed that most dogs realize instinctively I need my space, and they don’t sniff me the way do other people.
June 8, 2015 10:01 pm|
Oh yes. Our canine friends can indeed teach us some wonderful life lessons. We have much to learn from them.
P.S. The names you picked are unique, yet very cool. 🙂
June 8, 2015 11:51 pm|
oh wow…didn’t know you had pets, Shilpa. Yes, pets teach us very valuable lessons and you have pointed them so rightly 🙂 I liked the names of your dogs. I couldn’t help laughing at the Nickel’s kissing part 😀
June 9, 2015 10:40 am|
Shilpa – I read this post on my phone and realized I could not comment so now logging in again to this one to say how much I loved reading this. I was not brought up with pets and I don’t have one now too but I know that dogs are very affectionate and their love is the most unconditional. Glad you have 3 at home and they teach you so much about life. 🙂 Hugs!
June 9, 2015 12:09 pm|
Aww that reminds me i wanna have a dog too…lovely post 🙂
June 9, 2015 4:57 pm|
There’s a lot to learn if one observes, isn’t it? It’s just that we don’t observe, I guess. Enjoyed reading the lessons, SG. 🙂
June 9, 2015 9:10 pm|
Truly man’s best friends 🙂 Blessed you are Shilpa 🙂 Would love to meet them next time 🙂
June 9, 2015 10:02 pm|
Pets and especially dogs teach so much…loved your post. I am a dog lover too.
June 10, 2015 7:10 pm|
Hi Shilpa.
I could see how much you love your dogs. I hated dogs until few years before but now i love them immensely. The whole story changed once my brother brought in a dachshund home, snoofy ,when she was just 7 days old. I saw her grow up each day like a baby. Such a compassionate and lovable creature she is.
My first time here. I will drop by frequently to read more in your space.
July 19, 2018 11:06 am|
That was so awesome and yes everyone should learn from our dogs to be unconditional. This remembered of my dog too.Lovely post