Our dogs – as any other family members – can teach us many things. Through them we can get to know ourselves more deeply, as many challenges situations can occur.

Those who already had a dog know exactly how important the new family member can become. They can bring a lot of joy and happiness to our life. But we also have to admit, that we often face difficult tasks regarding our beloved pet. All of these are not coincidences, of course.

Let’s see, what are those 5 things you can learn about yourself through your dog:

1. Patience

Especially, if we are talking about a puppy, they are likely to put our patience at proof. In such situations you can realise that even if you thought your patience is limitless, you can get to the point when you lose it. Observe yourself, where is the threshold of your patience and before getting there, find you own method for calming yourself down. It can be some big, deep breaths, stepping out of the situation temporarily or anything else, which results in getting back your patience. After this it is worth thinking about that maybe you need to change something in the way you are managing the situation, in order for your dog to understand what you tell them and you, the owner can also be happy.

2. Maintaining your playful side

Most of the dogs like to play, run around and fool around. And the owners are mandated to facilitate that. Let yourself fool around, have fun and observe how advantageous a little game can be for you too. As adult, we often forget about our need to play. But equally as our dog, we also need it very much. If you allow yourself to play, you can become a lot more liberated, open and can have a lot better mood. And this is good for anyone, no matter what their age is.

3. Experiencing routine in your life

We, humans can be very different in this area as well. For some, regularity and routine is in their blood, and for others it is their worst nightmare. Nevertheless, if you have a dog, you definitely need to have some routine in your everyday life. Morning walk, afternoon playtime, evening walk, etc. Think about it, how do you feel yourself? If you are a dog owner for a longer time, most probably, this has already been built in your life completely. Still, if you think a bit deeper, what is your attitude towards the routine? You have no issue about it when it comes to your dog, but otherwise you don’t like it? Or the opposite way – do you like the planned things all through your life? It is worth thinking about it, as our approach towards routine can tell a lot about our personality.

4. Ability of undivided attention

As they say, dogs live for the moment. What is happening at the moment, that is in their focus (this of course is maybe not exactly the happening that you would like your dog to pay attention to, nevertheless, they are concentrating at their best – maybe to something completely else). This type of focused attention can be exemplary to us, people. While you dog is focused completely on you (for example when you arrived home from work), can you do the same with them? How much can you give your undivided attention to your beloved pet? Or to anyone else? to your friends, partner, parents, kinds? It is important, that even if for a short time, but give our undivided attention to our loved ones. Let’s learn from our dogs!

5. Giving and receiving love

Dog love unconditionally, as it is said. What about you? Can you also love others unconditionally; even if they made a mistake? If we take your dog as an example, how do you feel when they curl up next to you, showing their love this way? Can you accept it with your whole heart? If you receive it from another person, how do you react? And if we see this from the other direction, it is worth thinking about how you express your love. Maybe you get over with the tasks related to your dog, like taking them for a walk, ball being thrown three times, giving them food and that’s it? Or do you happily spend time to have a long play with them, have fun with them and make their soul happy as well? From the self-awareness perspective it is a good idea to think about this as well!