Shelter Dogs Teaching Lessons To Live By

For the past 14 months I have been volunteering at Foothills Animal Shelter (FAS) in Golden, CO. It is a good facility for animals of all kinds with wonderful people working and volunteering there. Since I have been spending hundreds of hours as a volunteer, I have learned a great deal from the fantastic Vets and Vet Techs there, but the greatest inspiration has come from the Shelter Dogs. These pups of all ages and stages have come into FAS as strays, surrenders, found dogs or having been injured or abused but even though they are not where the dogs would want to be (FAS treats them very well). Their response to their situation is what makes these dogs teachers of life lessons we could all benefit from and these lessons follow.1)Be Ready For A Great Day- Each Day as you walk in to see the dogs they are telling you and their body language is saying “Hey! Hey! Let’s have a great day”. The pups are ready to make the most of the day that is ahead, they are not worried about what happened yesterday or what’s going to happen tomorrow only let’s have the best today that we can. Imagine how much better our days would be if we started each day in the same positive way.

2)Be 100% Into Whatever You’re Doing- when these pups go for a walk they are totally into their walk! If they are eating or barking or playing with dogs or people, that is what they focus on to enjoy it to the fullest. How much better would our lives be if when we were doing activities we could focus on getting the most out of This activity.

3)Be Ready To Make New Friends- These dogs in these new and different environments are ready to open up their hearts to meet and greet new dogs and people. They are ready to enjoy the opportunity to have friends in their lives. We could all make our lives better if we were just ready, like these pups, to take new friends into our journey.

4)Bounce Back From Bad Stuff- These pooches are amazing at coming back from challenges, whether it is being abandoned, abused or being injured by a car or train. They don’t let the bad stuff that’s happened or the pain they’ve felt keep them from finding love and happiness even while they are still recovering. These pups move forward and find ways to Bounce Back. If we could all come back from our own bad stuff like the dogs do we could all enjoy more of our lives and get back to living and loving more.

5)Find Joy- The dogs at the Foothills Animal Shelter wag their tails, have a twinkle in their eyes and jump for joy in finding the simplest pleasures in their day. This is a great lesson from the pups because they look for joy all the time. I hope all of us over the holiday and into the new year look to Find Joy in the simple wonders that are all around us. If you’re struggling to see what Joy looks like, visit FAS!

My hope is the dogs can help you with some life lessons as I know they will continue to inspire me.

Photos are 1) Buster 2) Frank and Frank 3) Pebbles