Lessons from a Puppy
Today, we’ll take a break from the “heavy stuff” of the past few blog posts. This week my puppy Adelaide turned one year old. Now you may say “Big deal.” But for me, this last year with my puppy was a big deal. For a little history, I grew up with a cat, but never had much affinity for dogs. The connection between miserable childhood allergy symptoms and the canine species hardwired my young brain to believe what I assumed would be a lifelong dislike of dogs. Additionally, the busy doctor in me said, “Much too much work, much too needy, much too restricting, much too complicated.” How little did I know!
With persistent persuasion, my wife finally convinced me to get a puppy. In the strange way that the good Lord works, the thing that sealed the deal for me was asking my wife what she would like to name our “potential” puppy. She said she always wanted to call a dog “Adelaide.” Unique old sounding name. On the morning when we were going to make the final decision about adopting our puppy, I looked up which saint had their feast day celebrated that day. Much to my surprise, the saint of the day was…St. Adelaide! Done deal. Sweet little Addy entered our lives. All I had thought about were the negatives, but it turns out that the “Much Too’s” apply to the good things as well. Much too excited to see me when I wake up in the morning or return from being away. Much too much joy at the simplest things. Much too much cuteness with all the playful antics. I could go on…
What surprised me most was the lessons that I have been learning from this puppy. For those of you with children, these lessons may seem obvious. But for those like me that never had kids, then these lessons were all brand new.
Patience: Anyone who has ever raised a puppy knows the importance of this virtue. You have to go potty again? Already? Don’t you know it’s 4:00am? What do you mean that you don’t want to eat your dry food or your canned food today? I know you like to play with toilet paper, but do you think that those rolls grow on trees? The last five minutes of petting was surely enough for now, right? No? OK you win! My puppy reminds me that things don’t always work out how and when I want them to.
Presence: Living in the world today offers many distractions from the present moment. Our to-do lists grow continuously and it is easy for our minds to drift away to someplace or something else. But a puppy is just right here, right now. When the favorite toy gets brought over and nudged against your leg to offer play time, then it’s really hard to be anywhere else doing anything else other than be right here, right now, for play time. My puppy reminds me that some of the best moments in life are being perfectly in the moment and not somewhere else.
Unconditional love: It’s hard to describe the feeling of unconditional love that a puppy gives. I never imagined that anything or anyone would be so excited to see me. And it doesn’t matter how long I’ve been gone. You get the same full-body tail-wagging, jumping, nuzzling excitement whether I’ve been gone all day, or whether I just had to go out to get the mail. My puppy reminds me that my purpose here on earth is to love, without conditions or limits.
Simple joy: Things that used to have a purpose, like walking to get somewhere, now are experienced as a simple joy rather than something to accomplish. You want to sniff around the tree trunk a little longer today? You want to stop and watch joggers run down the road? OK fine. Or what about the way that a puppy romps through a fresh snow drift or a dirt pile as if they had died and gone to heaven? My puppy reminds me that simple joy is always available to me if only I choose it. Happiness is a feeling that comes and goes, but joy is a state of being not dependent on circumstances.
Curiosity: Everything is new to a puppy and worthy of exploration. There is no countertop, closet, laundry hamper, or plant that doesn’t merit careful investigation. My puppy reminds me that the world surrounding us is an amazing place if we have the curiosity to look.
Rest: Even the most playful and energetic puppy needs to nap sometime during the day. I wish I could zonk out with such skill, but my puppy reminds me to take a break from all activity now and then to unwind.
Dependency: As a physician, I have known the experience of patients who have depended on me to care for their health. But they all had loved ones or friends who could help take care of their needs outside the walls of the cancer center. Not so for a puppy. Every meal, bath, walk, potty break, etc. rely on my wife or me to be there. My puppy’s dependency on me reminds me of my dependency on God, who actively sustains me and everything in this world in a continuous act of creation.
Thank God for puppies! May they continue to teach us important lessons!
