Zivon at 5 months old Image by Will Simpson

I’m still a puppy and want to treat myself as such. I want to give myself calming opportunities that give me more impulse control. These are the things that I’m working on with Zivon and see that they apply to me and my life also. I want to give him the same understanding I want for myself when I mess up and don’t understand what I should be doing.

My life would be transformed if I could life even half the time in the moment as Zivon does all the time. He is such a forgiving dog. When I want him to do something stale or no fun then he is quick to let me know with a strong tug on the leash or if not on the leash then he’ll bolt off in any direction that he thinks promises fun. He’s not being mean, not getting back at me for any reason, he just thinks something over there will be more fun than what I’m offering, When I make going in the house more fun or throwing the ball more fun than sniffing the pine trees, he’s all for it.

What lessons are here for me? I to am attracted to the ‘fun’ stuff. More ‘fun’ equals more attraction. I don’t have any alternate motives. I suspect others don’t either. We just see different activities as more or less fun.

Because we know a little about our own mental lives, we see we just do what we consider good and fun. Yet we ascribe all kinds of motives to others and don’t consider that they too are just doing what they consider good and fun and it is us who are misinterpreting.

This is what Zivon is teaching me.

Hope you have an awesome day!

This journal is meant as a reminder to my future self. A reminder to him how to operate in the world with love and compassion and some tips put together in a moment of clarity to help him when he is less clear and caught up in stuff the he can’t control. Continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com.