Dogs:How To Be Happy
Dogs can teach us how to be happy – big statement but have you ever known a happier animal than a dog? and we all strive to be happy, so I believe they can help us understand how to be happy. We just need to know how they think, and what makes them so contented and happy.
It is one of the questions I am most asked ‘what is our dog Dexter, Tom or Ruby thinking’. And this leads to deeper questions, what do dogs think about life? and their place in it. I am going to be a bit philosophical in my answers to these questions, as it is only philosophy that can provide insights into dogs thinking similar to how it has done the same for our own thinking.
The first point is dogs do not think they just Know! Thinking is overrated. Dogs just know they are going to live forever and when they was born that was the start of the universe. Dogs don’t worry about full filling their days with completing so called meaningful tasks and trying to cram in as much as possible. Why when you have all your basic needs met and you are going to live forever, go back to sleep, have a lie in and for our Tom that is 23 hours a day.
Basic Needs
Dogs just know the most important things in life and the rest just doesn’t matter. Number 1. and the most important of all, do I belong to a pack (or in our case a family).
2. Do we have food.  3. Do we have shelter. If you can supply these 3 basic needs for your dog he will be happier than any person you know. Its because they know anything else does not matter. Take the pack (family), the worse punishment you can met out to a dog is to ostracise them from the pack, put them in a room on their own and close the door. If they show bad behaviour this is the quickest way for them to understand that bad behaviour means no pack, your do not belong here; nothing to a dog could be worse. Also once they are part of the pack they look to see who is alpha dog that brings home the bacon and finds the best den, that is you. Most dogs like to relinquish the responsibility for feeding and sheltering the pack and are happy for you to be the alpha dog. If they feel you do not fill that role and they have to, they get very distressed as they don’t know how to get food and shelter and behave aggressively.
Whats not important
Once all their basic needs are met, dogs feel very contented and happy. They do not compare themselves to the neighbour’s dogs and how big their garden is or the size of their car, they do not care, envy is something they do not feel. They do not feel the need to get a bigger and better shelter (house) or a more blingy collar or any other status symbols, they are not consumers. They also do not judge. When you come down in the mornings, they do not care how you look, what you are wearing, they just know you are amazing at what you do. This non judgemental aspect of dogs is why we find them so easy to befriend.
Dogs look to form life long bonds and look to strengthen that bond everyday by how they greet each other with enthusiasm and lick each other on the face. They are just pleased you are happy to come home to them and are not shy to show it. They are an open book and show their affection everyday.
What we can learn
So what can we learn from them. I propose an awful lot. Don’t compare your lot with someone else, just be happy with what you have, as it meets all your basic needs, stop consuming, stop comparing, start showing your love, keep your family close to you and enjoy your walk everyday, learning new smells, new dogs and their owners. Simple recipe for happiness but why does it have to be complicated, dogs aren’t.
HOW DO I MAKE MY PUPPY HAPPY IT KEEPS CRYING I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO I GIVE IT FOOD BUT IT STILL CRIES AND LOOKS AT ME WITH SAD EYES AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO IT KEEPS CRYING CAN U PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!
Lydia
It is one of two things, your puppy is in pain or they have separation distress.
First you need to eliminate seperation distress. Do you have access to another dog, can you give your puppy time with another dog, say a day and see how they are after that. If they are still crying you need to take your puppy to a vets as then it is because he is in pain but it is often seperation distress that a puppy cries so much and they will often adopt another dog as a surrogate mother to calm themselves. So try to get a freind for your puppy
Hope that helps.
Evelyn