Of course every thing I read has to be slanted towards animals, especially dogs. Not that it has to be written about dogs, mind you, I just have to slant it. It always comes back to dogs. For instance, today I'm reading my daily Improvised Life email and the rule for living is "Apologize Every Day."
http://www.improvisedlife.com/2009/04/28/rule-for-living-apologize-every-day/Here is my slant:
Apologize for:
- Not taking your dog for a walk to enrich their lives.
- Not giving them the extra biscuit they try to squeeze out of you at the end of the day at bed time.
- Not stopping to pet them every time you pass them.
- Not stuffing a Kong or bone on that really boring day.
- Not brushing them.
- Not training them to communicate effectively. Would rather that *they* just get it.
- Not letting them stop at that spot on the street, with their favorite lamp post because you had to get back to your busy life.
- Not coming home for lunch (or someone else) to let your dog out to relieve themselves.
- Keeping them in a crate all day.
Think about apologizing and then change it.
Change it:
Take your dog out for a walk even though you have a fenced backyard. Imagine yourself not being able to leave the home and yard, only to go to the vet?
Could you imagine wanting a last snack before bed and you can't, you suddenly lost your thumbs?
We would be/go crazy if we couldn't cruise the internet, pick up the phone, or watch T.V., that is called enrichment folks.
Out on shopping day, they shut down your favorite coffee house, no smells there.
I left these three things for last, because I believe they are the most important.
Cross your legs all day, no bathroom break for you. Or on the days you are sick, because you ate something you couldn't tolerate, no special bathroom trips. At all.
Sit in one spot, or lay in one spot all day, move just a little, every day.
What if we didn't understand the language and you were punished for not understanding the language. I stepped off a plane in Milan and there were military guys with no smiles sporting big guns standing at attention. . In the 80s, when machine guns were something I've only heard of in books or movies, here it was a few feet from me. I can't tell you how frightened I was...I wish I had learned the language. I once tried to exit a store in Sweeden and couldn't. I was tired, jet lagged out, frustrated, and I started to cry. All *exits* to the rear of the store. If I could only read Sweedish...
Apologize to your dog every day. Change what you do every day. Be a nicer understanding person every day.