This has been an insane week, work- and appointment-wise. Not a bad thing necessarily, but whenever my schedule gets like this, I struggle with concentration and, of course, stress management.
Yet, in these instances, I always find myself thinking, “Thank goodness for these dogs!”
This face = mental clarity
So, in keeping with that theme, here are my 5 reasons dogs are great for mental health:
1. They are always happy to take a break from their busy playing and napping schedules to let me scratch them for a bit. Scratching them is good for me, and their willingness to pause their work reminds me of the importance of pausing my work.
2. They remind me every single day to get out of my chair. Cooper’s great at this task because whenever I hear something being ripped or shredded, I get to launch out of my chair, find him somewhere in the house, and clean up whatever he destroyed. Or when they’re telling me they have to go to the bathroom. I get up then, too.
3. There is something ridiculously soothing about puppy snores. Husband snores… not so much. Puppy snores? It’s like having an adorable white noise machine that sheds.
4. Picking up poop is a grounding experience. You have to focus on the job lest you accidentally touch it. A being-in-the-moment sort of thing.
5. They require walks. Walking is good for clearing your head. (Also, see #4.)
That’s all I got for now. This was originally going to be a list of 10, but apparently I need a little more mental health… Off to go scratch a snoring Emmett!
What would you add to this list?
~Courtesy of Oh My Dog!
~Written by Maggie
