Benevolence - Good Triumphs

"Benevolence" finally summed up a couple dog blog entries I read last week.   They addressed the world beyond rescue, beyond the horror stories and photos we hear and see as animal rescuers to the more real world of dog owners. 

In an entry by KC Dog Blog by Brent Toellner, he asks those of us in rescue to "watch our language."  Not unlike the outmoded models of domination vs submission based on the study of artificial wolf packs in captivity, he says be careful what you repeat and to whom.  Here is a link to the entry which is well worth the time to read: "Everybody is Doing It!"

This thinking applies not only to animal rescue but to medicine, law enforcement, teaching, etc.  We all come to each day with our own biases - we look at things the way we have been trained to look and in a manner which has become habit.  Well, sometimes, the habit can hurt our "vision," become outmoded and no longer relevant or even true.   It behooves all of us, no matter what our vocation or avocation, to step back on occasion and ask, is that really still true?   This is one reason I enjoy working with students at the hospital.  They ask "why."  I need to do more for them than say "because."  It is the same reason I enjoy having volunteers at Silverwalk.  They ask "why," "how," and "what happens then..."  Keeps me on my toes. 

These are the last three paragraphs of Brent's entry.  I consider the attitude crucial to continue the progress in animal welfare over the last 20 years:

"So instead of focusing on the people who are using dogs to fight (and thus promoting the negative culture), we should celebrate the families that love their dogs and made them part of the family.

Instead of focusing so much attention on the people who buy their pets from pet stores, we should spend more time celebrating the people who adopt.

Creating peer pressure toward the positive can be very motivating...because people want to do what everyone else is doing and celebrating."  

Can we afford to ignore the negative incidents out there?  Absolutely NOT - but when we are speaking to people who care, we can celebrate that - and enhance their caring so they can pass it on.

Dr. Patricia McConnell, who has been dealing with and sharing her summer struggle after bringing a new puppy home for her current border collie, gives us a long and crucial summation.  Here is a quote: "the most important point of all. Benevolence. Most people do the best they can. Yes people do things that disappoint us. Yes others will do things that we consider to be mistakes. Yes some people do horrible things to dogs, not to mention to other people. But the more we can feel compassion for other people, as much as we do for our dogs, the better off we will all be. Over the decades that I have been in the dog world, I have seen so much anger about the behavior of others, and so much guilt from wonderful people about decisions they have made with the best of intentions. If only we could gather up all that negative energy we could power the world on it. But in my humble opinion, it's not what the world needs right now, and it's not what each individual within it needs. Listen up here: It is not the behavior of others that is hardest to forgive, and if we focus on that we are fooling ourselves. It is our own imperfections that are hardest to forgive. What a challenge it is to feel love and compassion and forgiveness for ourselves, and for all of the mistakes we each make. And yet, we are the only judge of own behavior that really matters. Life is One Continuous Mistake. If we do our best, with the best of intentions, and try to learn from our inevitable mistakes, then all we can do beyond that is to sit back and enjoy the ride."  She titles her blog entry by quoting Dogen Zenji, a Zen master, "Life is One Continuous Mistake." 

Knowing this, can we more readily forgive ourselves and move on, applying what we have learned not only to ourselves but to our outlook upon others, human and canine?