mo and i were talking today about swinger and how nicely he is starting to settle out. swinger was a nervy, high strung, not all that nice, and neurotic horse when he arrived. he was like that 15 years ago when he lived in the barn that mo managed. so today we are discussing how much less wound up and weird he is becoming. and why is that, cuz we aren't working with him at all. we are just letting him be himself and be a horse. and mo said, that is why he is getting better now after all these years. no one is making him be who he isn't. no one is mad at him, making him behave one way or another, no one is making him do things he doesn't want to do. i guess it is pretty hard to be stressed when everything just happens to go your way.
and that started me thinking about all the behavioral issues that come with our dogs, and how they over time just seem to sort themselves out. and the other part of all of this is how our animals are always surrounded by positive energy. there is little unhappiness here, almost nil in the frustration department, bad moods are barred at the gate and even when i do very rarely get mad cuz someone really crosses the line (like when miss bossy bonnie started a rumple in the front yard today with buddy the jerk), anyway, my mad is over in an instant and i don't hold a grudge and the next moment is free from past mad. so like swinger who isn't surrounded by negative energy, the other guys just seem to get better in a positive environment too. bonnie and buddy were having a bad day but they are over it now.
and that took me even further into thinking about people.
oops reality check. i had to stop writing cuz this awful stench just filled the room, and tom who i was ignoring on the couch had a big poop.i shouldn't have been ignoring him, this time he didn't want company, he wanted down so he could toddle outside to take care of business. sorry tom. thank god for easy to clean red leather couches, spray on leather cleaner and air freshener sprays. ok, so tom is on my lap now, the mess and smell are gone and now i can continue.
so about humans.....i took a couple of team building courses and goal based strategies for effectiveness workshops. and most of them taught me the same thing, surround yourself with positive energy and people. if you play around in fields of negativity you quickly sink into deconstructive and ineffective. but if you surround yourself with positive and forward thinking playmates you naturally become more constructve and more effective. i see this alot in both rescue and nursing, there are problem solvers and problem causers and problem perpetuators. and it stands to reason if humans become better people when surrounded by positive energy and positive people, the same would be true for animals too.
and i think that is why animals like swinger do well here, because he lives in a positive, happy environment. the animals can deal with challenge and adjustments and become even better then they ever were before because it is no fun being negative alone when everyone else around you feels good. but if we let strife, unhappiness, and negativity rule us, i bet our animals would swing with swinger right along to join us on that not so good and happy side.
my mother used to say be careful of the company you keep because one day you will become just like them. i keep such great company here, both human and animal that i am quite excited to see who i eventually become.