 I have spent many years living with and hanging out with dogs, and I have found the experience highly educational, as well as entertaining.
Dogs have a perfect realization of the concept of "be here now". They do not spend a lot of energy on other times or places. They know that the future contains the past, so the best way to know what went on is to move forward. With your nose to the ground.
Dogs are never judgmental. They are well aware that everything in the world is there for their enjoyment and they take full advantage of that. You will never see a dog enter a new place with prejudice. Every new environment is an opportunity for exploring and learning.
The dog's approach to relationships is to love everything unconditionally, and as often and as much as you can. Everyone who is accepted as a member of the pack therefore receives unlimited love and invitations to play. Furthermore, dogs seldom hold grudges; they forgive easily and quickly.
Of course, dog's reputation for loyalty is legendary. Their motto could be: Be steadfast and constant -- flightiness is for the birds.
Dogs live in a different sensory space than we do. Their sense of smell, their primary sense, gives them a much different perspective than does human's primary sense: vision.
Dogs can sense things far away and around corners, through doors and inside containers. They can read the past easily and in great detail. This makes their model of the world much different than human's, and we can develop a more expanded awareness by observing what is, in some degree, an alien viewpoint.
In fact, the general lesson we can get from dogs—and all animals, by extension—is the value of viewpoints that differ greatly from ours.
It has been my good fortune for these many years to have such a knowledgeable and patient sensei to help me understand the ways of the Universe and the place of the beings in it. I have learned a lot from Sweeny, and I know the Universe has been a better place for his presence.
—eez
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