Its so much easier to be good if its in the name of a dog (or cat)

As most of you know, I blog very regularly over at Dogster on the For Love of the Dog Blog. One of the surprizing things I've noticed is that people seem to feel freer to be the good people they want to be when they can do it in the name or under the aegis of a dog or cat!

For example, "Jane" may feel like she can't open up to people around her but when she "becomes" her dog "Mattie" (I'm making up these names btw so if you're named Jane and you have a dog Mattie I'm not picking on you; it was just dumb blind luck I got those names) all of a sudden "Jane" feels empowered to do good things for other Dogsters and dogs in trouble. She can talk openly about losing Mattie's mother, Pearl, and how Pearl changed her life. She can admit to feelings that she might be embarressed to share with others in the rest of her life.

In other words, our furfriends free us to be better people if we let them!

I have no doubt if you were to meet most Dogsters on the street they would be nice enough people. But meet them on Dogster, interacting under the watchful eyes of all those dogs and cats and something almost magical happens! Many, many of them move back to an almost childlike sense of wonder and affection.

If you wonder what I mean, visit Dogster and check out some of the forums and groups. Its very refreshing! Instead of parlaying defenses (which is what most of us do on a daily basis with the world around us), Dogsters who really get into the spirit seem to take on the essence of their dogs and cats.

Maybe that's why so many Dogsters don't want to leave Dogster when their pets die. As one Dogster said after having relinquished her beloved dog to a breed rescue because of an unfriendly divorce," I am keeping the Dogster page because its like having a piece of (my dog)." Maybe its not so much keeping the piece of her dog as it is how she feels when she's interacting on behalf of her dog -- free to be herself without hesitations and the adult distractions we call normal defenses.

And after all, isn't that what dogs teach us, to be ourselves? Isn't that a lot of why we love them? They are themselves and they accept us for being ourselves.

So when we take on their voices we also take on their acceptance of themselves, us and others who share the same love of dogs.

Gosh, what a deal we get from them! For a little food, water and pets we get to be better people and learn to accept ourselves!