Have you asked yourself this question? Many years ago I did ask myself do dogs love us more than themselves? So I started looking for confirmation of this, or otherwise, and was open-minded about what I would learn when raising my own dogs and also watching how other folk related to their own dogs.
As dogs are a pack animal, do you wonder, if when in the wild, dogs in the pack love their leader, or do they simply respect their leader?
I guess we could say a bit of both, couldn’t we?
I have a pack of three dogs at the moment, have had five previously and when I was breeding, sometimes including puppies, there would be over double digits in my home.
Let us start with my present three dogs and what I have observed.
My eldest one, Bliss will be six years old this year, and whilst she is a very gentle dog who simply wants to please, I have noticed with delight that the next eldest, Mojo who is now three years old very often will go and stand near Bliss looking for recognition and approval. If Mojo initiates play, sometimes this will be accepted and sometimes not.
I then wonder if Mojo feels disappointed, however this does not seem to be the case as she just accepts this without any fuss.
The lovely part is when Bliss chooses to come and take notice of Mojo, she will nuzzle her and then proceed to lick her eyes, her mouth and her ears. Mojo just lies there in total “bliss”.
Even more interesting is when my youngest, Twinkle, who is nearly eighteen months tries to gain Bliss’s attention, and I notice with interest, that Bliss will only respond to Twinkle on a few occasions. I am sure Bliss thinks this brash young one has to grow up a bit more before she will engage!
What does Twinkle then do? She goes straight away to Mojo, who will respond to her and they either play or kiss each other, so Twinkle still gets love which keeps her satisfied. Does this stop her from persevering with Bliss’s attention? No, No, No!
Twinkle perseveres and perseveres time and again, which is a lesson to us all, to persevere in all endeavours that are worth aiming for.
This obviously teaches us that our dogs love acceptance, love to have company as proven by the invitation to each other to play and that they absolutely love to be shown the caring interest of each other.
This brings us back to us, do dogs love us more than themselves?
I have learned over many years that my relationship with my dogs grows wonderfully when I give my dogs my time. I will either give my time exclusively to each one or I will give my time to them collectively.
How do I do that? I play with them, I take them on walks, and take them to places where they can have free reign once they are reliable and will return to me willingly and happily because they trust me.
They enjoy going with me in the car, they enjoy sitting with me when it is cuppa time, and they will even leave each other to play exclusively with me because I have built a relationship with them individually right from day one when they each came to be included as a member of my household.
Why else would they love me unconditionally? Well, I feed them, I provide water for them, I provide a safe place to sleep, I take walks with them, I stimulate them by teaching them new things to do, I cuddle them, share my time with them and keep them clean.
We all need to be nurtured, we all need folk to be interested in our personal welfare or we start to feel neglected, and yes, sometimes we miss the mark relating to each other, however there is always a new day to start again and turn the tables as the saying goes.
So, yes, do dogs love us more than themselves? Yes, they do, as my dogs have shown me this by leaving each other to play with me or leaving each other when I am close by and wanting to sit solely with me, rather than their pack, so their actions prove this! This gladdens my heart so much and I want this for you, so, friends, go for this and spend bonding time with your doggie companions!
Until next time…
With Love, Success and Inspiration,
Robin Oliver
www.robinoliveronline.com/blog
