Things I can Learn from Kutti

For those who don't know, Kutti is our pet dog. Here she is (can't miss an opportunity to show her, can I?).

I keep thinking that there is a lot to be learnt from her. If I could, I would write a book called "All I Really Need to Learn, I Learnt from Kutti". But since that is a tall task, here are some things that I think are impressive. Now, if only I could actually apply them!

1. Always express love: She always shows her affection towards me, either by wagging her tail (sometimes really really fast), or by licking my face or by just collapsing when I pet her.

2. Be ready to play: No matter what time of the day (or night) it is, she will be ready to play (mostly fetch). This seems like an excellent way to keep oneself active and healthy. Sometimes, for no particular reason (that I can think of), she would run and run around the yard and that gives her the much needed aerobic exercise.

3. Live in the present: She has no memory of what happened just a few minutes ago but is always living at that moment. Of course, she remembers some big things. One time, we scolded her for jumping on us while eating pasta (it is hard enough as it is!) and so from then on, she knows not to do that while we are eating. But then, everytime the vacuum cleaner or blender goes on, she just goes crazy and starts chasing her own tail.

4. Never hold a grudge: This is an extension of the previous one. Even if we leave her alone for 12 hours (it does not matter whether it is 2 or 12 hours), she would be waiting by the door when we get in the house, and express the same kind of welcome.

5. Show happiness: We tend to not express our happiness sometimes, but she will always show it by wagging her tail (is the speed of tail wagging directly proportional to the happiness level, the engineer in me can't help wondering?!).

Of course, there are a few things like not to lick and sniff everything that she can learn from me, but I don't think she would. I think we would all be better off if we learnt some things from dogs. And I truly hope there are dogs in heaven, if there is one.