7 Life-Changing Lessons from Being a Dog Owner

Being with your beloved dog not only brings you joy but also makes you a better person. The way you treat and care for your dog affects you more than you might imagine. Being a good owner helps you change habits and perspectives. Let's look at seven ways your dog makes you a better person!

7 Ways Your Dog Makes You A Better Person

1.You become more responsible

This is every child's excuse when begging their parents for a dog: "It will teach me responsibility!"

Even if you are (likely) already a fully mature adult, and even if you believe you’ve learned the basics of responsibility, the commitment you show in caring for your dog brings some surprising side effects. Yes, you will obviously feed and walk your dog, but owning a dog also helps you form a daily routine.

Taking care of a dog means being flexible and sticking to it even on cold mornings when you don't want to get up. No matter how much you want to relax on the couch after a long day, you know how important walks are for your dog. You care for your dog, maintain the best food and treats, integrate your dog into your daily life, and adapt to extra care needs as they arise.

By identifying and responding to your dog's needs, whether daily or sudden, you learn to stay attentive and handle priority tasks. In other words, yes, your dog does teach you all about responsibility!

2.Your communication skills improve

Truly mastering the art of understanding what your dog is saying is an achievement in itself. By understanding the specific signals and signs your dog gives, you can know their feelings and needs at any time. The more time you spend purposefully detecting and interpreting these subtle signals, the more likely you are to notice them in everyday life.

Although canine body language differs greatly from human verbal and written communication, learning to recognize these forms of communication makes you more attuned to the subtle cues of those around you. You might pay more attention to body language and tone. In other words, you learn to automatically seek out more subtle forms of communication.

Strong communication skills are incredibly beneficial when interacting with your dog! Training sessions will be more successful. Your dog will learn tricks faster because you can communicate more clearly. Learning to give clear instructions and identify their thought processes and actions across species is an impressive achievement, and it applies equally to human interactions!

Of course, you (probably) won't teach your colleagues, spouse, or children to sit and shake hands, but the aspects of clear communication still apply. Repeatedly stating goals doesn't work. You learn to give clear and concise instructions when conveying new skills, eliminating unnecessary details.

You learn to adjust your approach when errors occur in the process to foster success. When your dog (or person) doesn't understand something, you may more easily identify communication gaps and include new information you hadn't thought to share before. Finally, simply recognizing that others might not always know what you know, and making an effort to bridge that gap, is effective in any species!

3.You become more patient and tolerant

We all know that being a dog owner is not always easy. In many cases, it's easy to get frustrated or impatient with your dog. Maybe your dog decides to play in the mud during a walk. Maybe they struggle with learning commands or tricks. Maybe one day you come home to find the trash can overturned, with garbage scattered throughout the house. In all these cases, it's hard not to get mad at your dog.

However, the more you decide to take a deep breath and give your dog a chance to improve, the more likely you are to demonstrate self-control in other future situations! This doesn’t just apply to handling immature dogs.

Practicing self-control and patience with your dog easily translates to other areas of your life. You might be more tolerant of a malfunctioning printer at work or a broken plate on the floor. You stay calm, avoid wasting time and energy being angry, and instead go straight to solving the problem at hand. Adapting to change makes life easier!

Your dog also teaches you forgiveness. It's hard to stay mad at a dog that genuinely doesn't know what they did wrong. By practicing patience and forgiveness with your dog, you reinforce this concept and are more likely to handle other situations in life similarly.

4.You have better exercise and mental health

Part of being a good dog owner is ensuring your dog gets enough exercise. Soak up the sun! I know if it weren't for my dog Cookie, I might not get outside to breathe fresh air regularly. Obviously, when you walk your dog, you're also getting exercise. Nowadays, we should seize any opportunity to move and stretch our legs! Walking with your dog is also a great chance to spend time in nature. Being in beautiful surroundings has great benefits for your health, so walking your dog is beneficial in many ways!

Your dog also greatly boosts your mental health. Petting and cuddling your dog releases endorphins in your brain, making you feel happier and calmer. It helps you live in the moment and reminds you to slow down.

Having a dog can also help combat loneliness. Loneliness is not only unpleasant but also associated with higher risks of depression and other mental illnesses. When your dog is a loyal companion, the benefits are far greater than you might imagine. Finally, spending time with your dog increases mindfulness. You slow down and clear your mind, even if just for a brief moment. This reduces overall stress levels and promotes better health.

Dog owners generally tend to be healthier. They have less stress, lower cardiovascular disease risk, and, in the elderly, improved cognitive and social skills. They even live longer! In exchange for some dog food and cuddles, it's definitely a great deal.

5.You learn the importance of play

Think about why you initially wanted a dog. You probably wanted a companion, a friend who is always by your side. Dogs keep you grounded in the present and surely remind you to play!

It's easy to get caught up in daily chores. Get up, get ready for work, work for 8 hours, come home, try to relax until bed. Sometimes we feel we must give up the things we enjoy to succeed or simply complete all our daily tasks. We're overwhelmed by to-do lists, allowing work-related calls and emails to encroach on our free time, resulting in going to bed feeling never truly rested.

That's really unpleasant, isn't it? Fortunately, having a dog is a generous and constant reminder to enjoy the moment. It teaches us the importance of making time for fun in life! It's a great excuse to spend more time playing tug-of-war. Maybe spend more time teaching your dog new tricks.

Even just sitting on the couch giving them extra cuddles reminds you of the small beautiful moments in life and their importance. Even if you feel you must give up your previous leisure time, your dog is always a priority, ensuring you have a few minutes each day with a loving friend.

Your dog also makes it easier for you to find humor in small situations. Others might be grossed out by dog slobber, but you just laugh and joke about how excited your dog must be! When you hear your dog burp, you can't help but laugh because that strange little noise never gets old.

Even seeing your dog perk up their ears when they hear that special word is the same. "Out!" you shout, and your dog wiggles all over, unable to contain their excitement. Any opportunity to make us smile should be seized! And our dogs undoubtedly give us countless opportunities to play.

6.Your self-esteem improves

No matter how insecure you are, you know your dog won't judge you. Even if you don't have the latest technology, the best fashion sense, or even if you eat a burrito sideways. Your dog doesn't even know about those silly things that make humans feel bad. They just know they love you!

Working with your dog is a great way to boost their confidence. When your dog learns new words and their meanings, they feel more self-reliant. Teaching your dog to adapt to new situations is also a big boost to their comfort and confidence. The same goes for you!

Learning more about communicating with your dog, recognizing their needs, teaching them new skills, and simply feeling the joy of all those head pats can boost your self-esteem.

Besides working with your dog, simply knowing you can always rely on your dog to smile at you at the end of the day also helps. You can learn to let go of the silly things that usually make you nervous or insecure and focus on how great your dog thinks you are!

7.It teaches you unconditional love

Ultimately, having a dog teaches you unconditional love. We all know dogs excel at showing unconditional love, but when you truly think about it, so do you! Despite toilet training mishaps, mistaking something for a toy, or getting too excited when greeting guests, at the end of the day, you still love and care for your dog.

No matter what happens, you will still find a way to smile at that adorable face, enjoy playtime, and give your dog all the cuddles. When you realize how easily you can love your dog, despite any faults, you know it's mutual. Unconditional love isn't just for dogs. Try to think of another close person in your life, like a family member. Maybe they drive you crazy sometimes, but ultimately, you know you're family, and no matter what, you love them.

Hopefully, with everything you've learned while caring for your dog—communication, patience—you can apply it to other people in your life!

What has your dog taught you?

Whether it's something from this list or a new lesson you've learned from your dog, we want to know! Thanks again for reading, stay happy and healthy, and we'll see you next week!