I’ve heard that sentence many times, and I heard it again yesterday, “Dogs are better than people.”
But why? It actually didn’t take me too long to figure it out. There are 2 critical traits that most dogs have that most people lack.
First, dogs are extremely honest and clear about what they want.
One of the biggest issues with people is that so many of us are terrified of seeming pushy. Some people hide what we want from others, some hide it so deeply that we don’t know what we want ourselves. So figure out what you want. Assuming you’re not a terrible person, getting what you want will actually make the world a better place.
In fairness, human wants are more complicated than dog wants. Dogs only want the basics: food, sex, and attention. Humans want all that plus more complex things like health and financial stability. So sometimes it takes a bit of extra thought to separate whether you want the ice cream or want not to have had the ice cream more.
But once you decide what you want, you need to get better at communicating your wants to the people around you. Trust me, the people who care about you want to know what you want.
As a habitual shrugger, I know how irritating and alienating it is both for friends and acquaintances to be completely in the dark as to what my preferences are. Humans are social animals. We instinctively want a give and take even in our most casual relationships. And not being able to give is every bit as unpleasant as not being able to take.
So do your friends and family a favor and be more like a dog. Ask for the snacks and snuggles.
Second, dogs are extremely forgiving when they don’t get what they want.
You may have heard the joke before, but if you want to know if your dog or your significant other loves you more, lock them both in the trunk of the car for an hour and see who’s happy to see you when you let them out.
People often overanalyze events and we take things personally. But we know full well that most of the times we hurt our friends and loved ones, it’s not because we wanted to hurt them. It’s because we were hangry or overworked or just plain stupid. Somehow it’s harder to understand that the same is true when they hurt us.
Dogs can teach us an important lesson: most of the time things don’t go your way, it really doesn’t matter. And the sooner you decide to get over it, the sooner you get to enjoy the people in your life and be enjoyed by the people in your life again.
In fairness, human relationships are a little more complicated than dog relationships, and there are advantages to that. Some relationships genuinely aren’t worth the crap they come with. Some hurts and betrayals are simply more important than any relationship, no matter how close. And dogs are not capable of understanding that.
But there’s only one question that needs to be answered when you don’t get your way: what’s more important, the event or the relationship?
If the relationship is more important, do your friends and family a favor and be more like a dog. Get over it.
