Dogs Are The Best, Right?
How great are dogs?
They’re really cute and they are great companions.
They make your house a home.
They bark at everything.
They bring you dead things.
It’s awesome.
It could even be said that they can be instrumental in the implementation of self-care practices. Here are some of the major ways they help:
7 Ways Dogs Totally Help with Self-Care
1. They Help You Get Your Steps In
My step numbers have jumped exponentially since my littlest dog started bolting out the front door every chance she gets.
She’s little, and she's fast, and I am not, so catching her is a total THING.
Sometimes when she gets distracted by something I think, “oh this is it!”
Narrator: “But that was not it…”
No, it never is. It always takes three times longer and about half a day’s step goal to retrieve her than I think it will.
Here’s to staying active, amirite?
2. They Make You Feel Loved
It’s an amazing feeling to have a dog vying for your attention.
Whether they’re walking across your computer while you’re zooming your boss, or arguing on your lap while you’re trying to have a convo with your bestie, it just makes you feel so loved, doesn’t it?
I am especially fond of the hissy fit that one of them has when the other is somewhere they want to be. The pitch they can hit. It’s really marvelous.
Their need to be basically inside your clothes with you while you’re trying to talk to the nice customer service rep about that really annoying problem creates all the warm fuzzies, too.
You will never not feel needed and loved (unless you’re the one trying to engage, of course) when your home is cohabitated by a canine.
PHOTO BY Alison Behrens Braly
3. You Have a Better Appetite When They're Around
I don’t know if science has determined that this is because you really want to eat more, or you’re just trying to keep your food from getting taken out of your hand, but you tend to consume your food at a faster rate, and thus eat more, when you have a dog watching you chew.
Dogs love to watch their humans eat, and thus meals can be a bonding experience.
Is it bonding over how many times you can say, “No, that’s not for you!” and your dog can ignore it? Maybe.
You may also bond over which foods they deem the most stealable - “Oh is this your favorite, too, mom? It’s so good! I don’t blame you!”
Whatever the case may be, you’ll be inhaling your meals in no time, and your dog will be watching you do so.
4. They Keep You on a Schedule
You want a schedule?
You want to be barked at at 5:30 AM?
Then barked at for breakfast?
Maybe followed around for 30 minutes preceding dinnertime being yelped at?
Dogs are great for this! YOU don’t get to create the schedule you stick to, but you are sure as heck held to one.
It’s also pretty militaristic. You’re ten minutes late with dinner? Drop and give me twenty! Don’t forget that belly rubs and ear scritches are scheduled for 1400 hours!
Roger that.
5. They Help You Meet New People
You’re going to get to know a lot of new people thanks to your pup.
Mailmen.
Delivery people.
Your neighbors, when you meet to discuss how to bring peace to your two nations.
Now, granted, these people will probably not know or remember your name as well as they know or remember your dog’s.
Who can fault them? They’ll be hearing your dog’s name much more often.
They’ll hear it over and over again because you’ll be screaming it in the general direction of the furry thing headed toward them, or on the other side of their fence.
Anyway, you may not know each other’s names, but you’ll definitely get to know some people you didn’t before.
6. They Help You Keep Your Space Tidy
Nothing is safe.
Nothing.
Not shoe laces or books or power cords.
Nothing.
So - you’ll learn real quick to pick up all that shit. Maybe even find a place that it can go most of the time that is unable to be reached by your fluffy kleptomaniac.
One day you might look around and realize that everything has a place to live - because it has to, because otherwise it is prone to destruction.
Then your dog will expect a thank you note.
7. They Make Sure You Take Breaks
Heyooooo! You’ve been sitting down watching your show for an incredible EIGHT minutes. Time to get up!
Your dog needs to whine about something indiscernible 20 feet from where you’re currently sitting before deciding they really don’t care about that anymore. But hey, you got up! Well done!
Are you working? Have you been working on the same 4-sentence e-mail for 37 minutes because each time you get to the second half of the third sentence your dog asks to go out?
You are SO welcome for that reminder that life is not all about work.
Listen, I know you are really trying to enjoy that bestie zoom date, but your dog URGENTLY needs your attention…because they want you to see their new toy.
It’s not new. It’s the giraffe they’ve had for about 5 months, but they want you to look at it. Maybe acknowledge it. Squeak it, even. There. Now your eyes have had a break from your screen.
Get a Dog They Said…It’ll Be Fun They Said…
In all seriousness, dogs (and pets in general) can be a great boost to your mood and your general well-being.
Sometimes though, I wonder what the hell I was thinking.
Then, when they are totally exhausted and very good and ready and have deemed me worthy of their love, my dogs curl up next to or near me and I realize that all of their shenanigans are sort of kind of worth it.
Do you have a dog? Are they the bestest fluff? Do they make you question your choices at least once a week? Then you’re doing it right, friend.
If you’d like some (actual) ideas on how to help yourself start a self-care regimen, you can sign up for my only-once-a-month newsletter here, and receive my 10 Beginner Steps To Self-Care as a thank you from me!