Let's Go...Get a Dog!

Guest Post by David Lin

We have a saying in the DC metro area: “if you want a real friend, get a dog.” Despite being betrayed many times for nothing more than maybe a squirrel, floor pepperoni, or ‘just because’ - the old adage gives true wisdom about how you can expect to be treated by people in this ever political town. If I ever write a post about “this one little trick to vastly improve your health,” the secret would be this: go get yourself a dog. Don’t worry if you’re set against dogs or already have some of your own - this post is written for you too.
 
I never intended to adopt a dog. Feeling seriously down about life, I decided to take myself to the local animal shelter to pet a few downtrodden doggos because misery loves company. Just as it had been with my luck all that year, when I arrived at the shelter, one of the volunteers told me that every dog available had been adopted out of the shelter (this was years before the pandemic). I accepted my fate and asked about dirty work that needed doing, heading back to the kennels in search of purpose. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a lone dog in the far back kennel, lying in the dark on bare concrete, face pressed into the far corner of the building.
 
I had met her on her last leg to destruction with a medley of scars, cold demeanor, and a deep rattling cough that shook her. When I went up to her cage, we didn’t lock eyes. She didn’t wag her tail. There was no spark, no magic between us. When I took her out into the yard she walked straight into the far corner, steaming from her nostrils into the cool autumn air, glaring hard at a world that she was done with as much as it was done with her, coughing deeply from within. I didn’t have a lot of hope for her. Some dogs, like people, just can’t be helped. She had been bounced around three shelters, adopted out five times, and surrendered as often. She was hard to handle, an escape artist, and a wild animal some volunteers spotted in the woods for months before they tricked her into the van with food at the tail end of winter.
 
She was alone, damaged, and unwanted. So I took her home.

Maggie, the Mud Doggo

How Having a Dog Improved My Health

• Walking my dog added several thousand steps to my average daily step count, caused me to get a lot more sunshine, and helped me get to know my neighbors better.
• Teaching my dog suburban survival skills really improved my patience, my understanding of how learning works, and how I communicate and socialize.
• The bond I formed with my dog really allowed her curious nature to become welcome stimulus: keeping me company, keeping me engaged, and being entertaining.
• Her limitless energy and drive to participate in my activities lifted my spirits and made me more optimistic about even mundane things like taking out the trash.

 
But the direct benefits to my physical, emotional, and mental health pale in comparison to what having a dog has taught me about life and living. The struggle of bringing home an abused, angry, and wild animal was immense. My dog saw me more as her jailer than her dad for a long time. It was only when she pulled me down some stairs, causing me to land in an injured lump that I developed any hope for our relationship. Her escape complete, she fought down her immediate desire for freedom and came back to check on me before running off into the woods.
 
She taught me that love can bloom slowly through bitter resentment, lost patience, and sheer terror. She showed me that trust and affection could rise above abuse and neglect. In my home she would persevere against nightmare after nightmare that would leave her quietly howling and distraught for hours after she awoke. She learned to resolve her past trauma of confinement without hating me for forcing her into her crate. She discovered that other dogs did not exist just to hurt her and take from her.
 
But most of all, she would slowly accept that she meant something to somebody. And from there, she found all of the freedom her doggo heart had ever desired.
 
My dog’s name is Maggie. She is a motherly dog that won’t take treats from puppies and licks people babies. She fears no other creature and never backs down from a fight, but has never injured another dog. I am her master, but I want for nothing more than to be more like my dog. Maybe you should get one too.
 
I can tell you this much:
 
Your dog won’t be mad at you for cheating on your diet. Your dog won’t love you less for the things you do that make you feel guilty. Your dog loves you and will always want you to be more active during your day, sleep well during your night, enjoy your food when you choose to eat, and wants with their entire doggo heart for you to feel the same way. Even if you can’t get a dog, remember how a true friend would treat you and be a true friend to yourself. Let’s goooo (get a dog, maybe)!
 
David

More of the Mud Doggo? Visit www.mudkingdom.com