Learn From Your Dog: 13 Life Lessons That Actually Work with Bruce Littlefield

0:00I said, you know what? I'm gonna live like a dog and I am going to shake it off. And so I literally went and went in my closet, got a new shirt and it was totally fine. But really I did just say I'm gonna shake this off. And I think we as humans we hold on to so many things too tightly that really are they gonna matter tomorrow and not really. And did anybody know that my shirt was not the shirt that I was supposed to wear? No. You're listening to the Soul Touch by Dogs podcast. The show for dog lovers who see dogs not as toys or tools but why souls worth our respect and care. I am Uncle Herman and I'm your host. Hello and welcome Bruce. I'm if they're lighter to have you here with me. I am so happy to be here with you. Wonderful. Well, I always ask the same thing but boring like that let people know when this lovely world you're based and what's your business with dogs.

1:04I am based in New York. I'm currently at my farm in upstate New York in the Catskills. And I have written a book because I love dogs called Everything You Need to Know About Life. You can learn from a dog. I love it. So obviously I have like loads more questions about that and yeah and I couldn't agree more. It's so true. I always say our dogs are our wisest teachers and you have written a whole book about that. It was just delightful. So how did you stumble into your love for dogs? Like were you always like that or was it a particular dog that sparked in you like how did it all start? Well, I had my first dog as a child was named Snuggles and he was a shit zoo and we my dad and mom brought him home and immediately it was one of those you know roll on the floor and be so happy and just I adored this dog and he became sort of you know the wonderful sidekick. He would

2:11crawl through the sewer drains with me. I grew up in South Carolina. He would crawl through the sewer drains. He would be my he was one time. I did a Halloween costume where I was the dog catcher and I had caught him and we won the the neighborhood award. And he sort of became like my little sidekick and my co-star everywhere I went. And then after Snuggles passed we had a new dog, a cocker span, on named Savannah, who was went through my high school years and until I moved away at college. She was with us. And then in my adult life I first had Jasper and Jasper taught me so many fun lessons because I never had a dog as an adult. I hadn't really communicated with a dog like on an adult level to a dog. I had always had you know a childhood relationship with a dog. And so he was very

3:15funny and adorable and excited and traveled with us and we ended up buying a country house because where I am today because we took Jasper on a hike outside the city. We were in New York City and I felt like you know a dog really needed to see real nature. And so we went on a hike and after the hike we stopped in a real estate office and said hey you have anything you want to show us. And she drove us to this house where I sit right now and Jasper got out of the car and did a zoom in the yard and it was like sold. The real estate agent couldn't have been happier. Wow, I'm not bad you need them. I like you that's fantastic I love that. And I talk to you like yeah if you know it's it's such a memory because I can I can still visualize his joy of you know getting here and you know experiencing it could this be my yard. And you know to me it like

4:19warmed my soul and helped really make my life grow from that. Yeah I totally relate to that. Like I moved away out of the city I mean obviously not New York but you know I moved away out of the hustle and bustle of the city into sort of a country space for the dogs. It was that same thing it's like yeah it was literally like having the experience on a holiday you know what it's like to be just open the door and the dogs can run around and you throw a ball and it was just the whole different life yeah I can't imagine going back that's yeah that's that's the whole I totally get it. The thing about having a dog as a friend is that every day presents something that is new and exciting even if it's the same day as yesterday in terms of the walk you're taking the route you're taking the food that the dog is eating it is always something new and exciting and so that makes me you know happy and sort of gave me the idea to write the book really. Yeah I was going to

5:21ask you like because like loving a dog and having dogs around is one thing like there's like I don't know how many million people like you know in the year but what what was the step like what was the inside or the thought that sparked actually I should write about this. Well so now I have my dogs name is Felix and Felix as you know I feel like dogs bequeath other dogs they help you find your new friend and Felix came to us through our second dog Westminster and and then we have Felix and Felix is the happiest farm dog he I mean we go back to the city of course and he does his city manners but he really loves the country house and the the farm that we have here and he's a cattle dog mixed sort of border cally cattle dog mix and rescue and one morning I was having you know the world is heavy at times and I was hearing some bad news in the world I had a lot of

6:24crazy stuff going on with career stuff and returning emails and I walked out to our front porch and there was a giant limb sticking through the ceiling and I was sort of like you know and so I was like oh this is the worst day ever and Felix was like hey this is the best day ever and Felix was like you know hey there's a stick I left last night there's the grass I like to roll on and so I thought you know what I'm going to let this go and I'm going to shake this off and I'm going to follow Felix today and sort of take his attitude about my day and so I took my I always have my notebook with me and I took my notebook and I started making notes of the things that he did and the way he was appreciating his day and the first thing that I wrote was that dogs wake up with enthusiasm they are ready to go and you know and so I was like you know what I'm going to start

7:26waking up with enthusiasm and see how that you know treats me and then I came to start following along you know dogs get up in the mornings and the first thing they do is stretch they do up dog and down dog the up dog and down dog and I so I started doing that and one by one I came up with these 13 lessons and here we are there's the book and you know it was it's sort of a great tale that my dog actually became a life coach and gave me some great simple lessons so now I'm obviously curious and you know well there's probably going to be part two right because once you start observing I'm pretty sure there'll be more lessons there are there plans for part two or you're writing one already yeah it's funny you ask because you know everybody's really liking the book and my publisher Penguin Random House is very excited about how it's doing and so my editor

8:26she's like hey what do you think and I'm like oh well and so I've started now taking some little notes on sort of life advice that dogs give like just pithy little you know moments in the day and I'm coming up with some cute things so I hope I hope I'll get to crank out a fun another one so I mean that's the thing it's and that's that's not your first book like so it's not your first rodeo so you know exactly how this works right yeah I did and you know this time I got really I got really lucky well first of all to do an illustrated book is a little different than some of my other books but in this one they presented me with five illustrators and when I looked at the very first one who is the one I chose Maribel her illustrations are just so precious and she really like captures like the moments with dogs that like you know in a day

9:31I just knew she was a dog lover and so the first question I ask is you have a dog don't you and she's like oh I love dogs and so she really in in in addition to capturing dogs especially their eyes and their looks and the way that they you know approach and look at things such with study she captured hair well and all the different types of fur and she captured a diversity of people and I think so in terms of future projects if I do another illustrated book with on dogs I would definitely want to use the same illustrator Maribel yeah I can I can see that so out of the 13 I mean I like just let's be clear if you look at the book like that like it's obviously for grown-ups but I think it's for kids too isn't it oh well for sure I mean what I'm getting is people saying to me is you know they're reading it to their kids

10:32and they're they're finding themselves tapped on the shoulder and saying oh my gosh you know I I really should be more curious in my life I mean you know dogs are always curious in their day and sniffing around and finding new things to explore and look at and so I had an email from a lady who said you know I'd like to tell you that what you've done for me is that you've made me feel younger today because I went out and I started exploring and thought thought of myself more like a dog and I looked at my yard in a different way and so you know things like that are really resonating well with me and it makes me very happy do you have a favorite lesson oh that's a great quote you know one of the yeah I have I love the lessons but you know one of the things that I realized is that dogs give us a little entertainment by learning a few tricks and I think a human as humans we should know

11:39and have a little you know pocket full of tricks you know as a kid you do a summer salt or a cartwheel and that was a little trick and you show your grandparents and they would be so happy thrilled and and you know so after after I wrote the thing learning learning a few tricks I've taken up studying palm reading so I want to be able to go on more so go to a party and like read a few palms just like a dog would go and show you that they could spin or jump over a hoop or you know that kind of thing so you know I think that's one of the more fun ones and then you know one of the heartfelt things that I think is very important to me is dog loyalty and I I really first of all cherish my friends and you know loyalty is just one of the most wonderful trades but a dog is loyal and so that really spoke to me when you know I realized that was one of

12:41the points of the less one lesson is that you know loyalty being a loyal human being to your fellow human beings and your you know compatriots is one of the the best things you can be and so if I had one that that touched my soul the most I'd say be loyal so so when you I'm just still thinking imagine you know getting up and stretching and downward and upward dog so as you've started to you know learn from your dog like what's changed in your life like I mean obviously you're probably more flexible now yes well I've been going to yoga more often but you know I have a funny story when the day the the week the book launched there was a big you know release party and a book signing and it was at a store and it was going to be a big event with you know more than a hundred

13:45people and I was very excited about it and I had picked out a great outfit to wear that had a dog running across the this the chest and I thought oh I'd be so great to wear that and I had planned it for a few weeks and I could just imagine the whole thing I was just like perfect I was going to be perfect and so I got in the shower and my husband Scott says comes and he says hey you want me to iron your outfit and I was like oh sure I said be careful with it and so five minutes later he comes into the bathroom and he's like oh no I've got something to tell you I go what and he said your shirt melted oh no and so I mean my first reaction was you know tears of like oh no it's ruined my day this is the worst thing ever and I this is a promise I said you know

14:48what I'm gonna live like a dog and I am going to shake it off and so I literally went and I went in my closet got a new shirt and it was totally fine but really I I I did just say I'm gonna shake this off and I think you know we as humans we hold on to so many many things too tightly that really are they gonna matter tomorrow not really and is did anybody know that my you know shirt was not the shirt that I was supposed to wear no and did it work out fine it did and do I have a story to tell you now yes so you know you look at all those things and you're like yeah so I learned I lived like my dog and shook it off and there I go so it's funny how's that but it's such it's such a great story though right because like we can go and get all hung up about you know things and that's that's what we do as humans right we worry and we stress over stuff that

15:50that we could literally I'm gonna try to shake off the thing yes well you know think about it you you step out a dog's tail or accidentally do something and it hurts the dog and the dog squeals for a moment and then suddenly eight seconds later that's gone and forgotten and they definitely forgive you and one of the other things that I did is that a friend had annoyed annoyed me if you know months ago and it was just like rattling on me and so I went to the friend and just said you know hey I just wanted to say I'm sorry that I got upset and I'm letting it go and so you know just something like that and it was a wait-off and we had a little laugh over and I said you know Felix is telling me that I should just let this go and and so you know things like that are just precious things that the that are our furry friends can teach us yeah for sure for sure has there any but like you know I'm just digging into the story vault here has there been one where

16:51you know it kind of had some unexpected side effects or something that did quite you know there is one because dogs know how to relax and I noticed I made notes that wow Felix just you know anytime he has the opportunity he takes a moment and just relaxes you know and we as humans have gotten to a point in our lives where we feel guilty about relaxing we feel guilty about taking a nap we feel like oh we should have been doing more and and what dogs know is that the relaxing is an important taking a break and a rest is important so that you're not exhausted when the real great stuff comes along and so that I never I would never ever take a little nap and or a rest and since I I have noted this I've been each day taking about 10 minutes just to like

17:52chill out you know call it meditation call it whatever but I just calm myself let my brain relax and you know take a nap and it has helped me surprisingly I have more energy I'm you know less afternoon like oh slumpy slumpy and I feel feel better and notice your dog that if if you're not talking to them for a second they're gonna go oh I'm gonna sit over here and take a little quick snooze yeah well yeah and especially now it's like hot minus just like a leg around all day yes so I don't want to I don't want to kind of you know take a yeah I don't want to copy that because then I'll just do nothing all day like mine yes but when you're ready to go your dog is ready to go with you so they're just lying in wait that's that's right yeah like mine one of mine is a Spanish master and so her whole the whole thing is like they basically are bred to protect the

18:54sheep herd from wolves at night so she does literally nothing all day I mean she'll come out for walk it's not a chill resist going out for walk but you know like during the day she's just laying around like in the evening where it's when she's a nice girl yep yep she's like whoa like I got a lot more yeah take on the take on the night so like I love the idea of of looking at your dog as your life coach basically so so would you suggest that people grab a notebook and start observing their dog yes you know yes and also you know pick up a copy of my book because I think I've done a good job of it of succinctly explaining what the dogs do but like as an example dog patient be patient right I I observed that Felix is a very patient and dogs are patient in the in the book it's illustrated with a dog waiting by the door for his little girl to come home from school

19:59and then she comes home and of course the dog is so excited that that you know the patient says paid off and then the girl grabs her little kit and starts brushing the dog and doing the dog's hair and you know so the dog is again patient but in a different way being patient you know maybe sitting patiently well did I want the pigtails in my hair today not really but you know this is my girl that I love and so I'm going to do that and so you know yes observe your dog and and you know it's the cheapest life coach you could ever have for sure you have a lot cheaper than therapy yeah for sure for sure like I'm just just thinking like talking about patients like when my know they you know how they have that in a clock and it's so precise you know when it's their time to eat they'll come and like not they're not all that patient I mean they've got me trained well because they know it works but it's it's just really funny though yeah they notice that isn't

21:01it like they know it's like six o'clock if they're if their food time is six o'clock they somehow know without a watch on their their paws they know that it's six o'clock yeah yeah so like what what kind of little quirks does Felix have that other dogs might not have well Felix is a hilarious dog um he you know I beg I beg him hey don't you want to sleep on the bed with me and want to just so you know night he'll get on the bed for a second he does his little like okay this is what I'm supposed to do he lays down he does a little moment he looks at you and then he's like okay that's it good night so that's one and then the other is because I told you he was a you know border border collie cattle dog he um when he wakes up and he's in the the country he heads out the front door and he makes a loop around the property we don't have a fence but he knows exactly his borders

22:05and he you can see him and he sort of checks the news of the day around the perimeter of the property and then he comes back like he's gonna report back what what he's you know he's bound um and so that is a very people that come to visit and they watch him do this in the morning they're like oh my gosh that is hilarious and the other thing that he does which is a little quirky and funny is he doesn't um you know go swimming in the pool for example but when he becomes we have a creek that runs along our property and when he is overheated or when he sometimes it's just like oh I'm gonna go he goes down and just sits in the creek and so this is the water he just sort of sits with his head and he just gets himself cool and just waits and then he's like okay that's about right and then he and he comes back up and he does his little shake off and he runs around gets the zoomies and then you know but he's you know decided for himself that that is his moment of of zin relaxation

23:12he looked at this is really like living life as an art form right it's like this got it worked out and we think I think we do have so much to learn yeah I think I think really pay I also I think paying more attention right so I think I'd love to just hold that book up again because that was like the illustrations which is so sweet yeah I just love it look at that look at it's it's um it's really like uh resonating well with people and that makes me very happy and like I said the the um lessons are simple but we're solid and dogs have spent millennia figuring this out and so why not take a little advice from them I think so I think so and I think I just love the idea of like going through those lessons and then look at your own dog it's like you know you know what's and what else like even the part where you know you're the little zoomies your dog like I my mind

24:16is now going I wonder what the lesson there is like I wonder what what you can pull from that like you know so it's like be excited you know yeah excited yesterday we got to go and see um a wonderful Broadway actress Audra McDonald it was a festival in near here and Audra McDonald performed and I was like just like so excited uh to watch her talent and and I you know if I could have done the zoomies around to the audience I would have but you know be enthusiastic I mean just think about that and watch your dog when you oh get a treat out get a cookie out get a you know and they are so excited in the tail wagging and so I think you know really be watch your dog and sort of do some of those traits and see if you're not having a better day I guarantee you will be having a better day I I definitely believe you to and then you need a shirt

25:17like that like yes and then get yourself a shirt you remind me I've got a bunch of t-shirts with like doggy stuff on and about that is super cool thank you thank you oh how you selling those on you know on the website I think you should I you could even use illustrations from like you know images from the book that's a great idea hmm checking that coming soon that's a great idea yeah so where can people obviously get the book where can people find out more about you and your work and all the other wonderful things you're doing what that's a good question so um thank you for asking um first of all you can find the book anywhere books are sold like Amazon has it target has it Walmart uh Barnes and Noble but you know if you have a favorite local bookstore please go and support your local bookstore and they if they don't have it in stock they'll get it for you right away um and then also at my website which is my name Bruce Littlefield dot com I have a lot of

26:21things about dogs on there and you can also order some of my books and signed copies and you can also find out some other fun things about uh living well on that site all right like well we're going to just leave that there as a teaser okay I'm gonna give more away for now well thank you so much I I'm I'm just gonna go get that book now because it's just so sweet and I just love the idea of of learning from dogs rather because we so often like okay it's about you know teach your dog this and teach it's always like training the dog dog training right it's always like people training dogs and yes okay they'll be certain things where where you know if dogs live in our environment there's certain kind of things they need to understand fair enough right but I think it's so one directional like and I think they have so much to give right so I think they have a lot more to teach than to learn from us so that's why I love that book so much I love that you said that and I hadn't really thought about it that way but thank you for I'm gonna write it down in my notebook after we finish this call well thank you so much and I you know I really hope everybody you know

27:28everybody who has a dog at least needs to get it and everybody who doesn't as well because thank you it was a joy to be on with you what a great conversation thank you for having me thanks so much thanks so much for listening if you enjoyed the episode don't forget to subscribe and leave a review so other dog lovers can find the show head over to soultouchbydogs.com and sign up for the weekly treat tips recommendations and personal stories to warm your dog loving heart and if you know a person human you think I should interview I'd love an introduction email me at anchor. that's a and k e at soultouchbydogs.com