So, February 2018 saw the start of the Year of the Dog, which is said to bring luck and even the coming of ‘fortune’ (I might even find that missing bone?!). You don’t however have to be a dog to reap some of the benefits of canine behaviour and enhance your life. I’ve finally finished the filing so while I’ve got a spare moment I thought I’d let you humans know what discovering your ‘inner Ted’ can do for your wellbeing.

Live for the moment

We are all about living in the moment. We don’t spend our time thinking about how we can improve upon what we are doing or we’d fetch a ball and put it somewhere safe rather than give it to you to throw away again. Neither do we worry about what we need to do next; sleep, eat, run, repeat. We are just content to be in the here and now, embracing the moment (and that pesky tennis ball).

Trust your gut

When something doesn’t feel right it usually means it isn’t. But again, you humans often over think it to convince yourselves it will be ok, or you tell yourselves to just live with it or, even worse, you try and work out a solution. Us dogs just trust our instincts. We know if people or situations make us feel uncomfortable and we don’t try to justify it. We just growl and slink off.

Be kind to yourself

We know what we want (food) and we know how to ask for it (beg). We focus on our own needs and ours alone. Don’t put everyone else first and ignore what you need to make yourself happy.

Practise acceptance

If I get wet or hungry, once I’m dry or fed you humans will hear no more about it. But, if something you don’t like happens to you, we never hear the end of it. Stop dwelling on problems and issues and don’t dramatise things that have gone wrong.

There are plenty of other things that make me happy that you are all missing out on … cat chasing, shoe shredding, lying around being smoothed … but l don’t think you can handle all that yet!