Luna's Pawdcast

Are you a bit fed up of walkies being our only lockdown activity? Well, let me share with you why I think it’s really important to keep walkies as part of your daily routine.

When life becomes overwhelming – which is, understandably, happening quite often for many of us at the moment – where can you go to just ‘be’ while you recharge your batteries?

Would you like to know one of my (many) secrets to happiness? Yes? I thought so. We all need a burst of happiness right now, don’t we? It won’t surprise you to read that it’s simple.

I would love for you to start your week with a smile. Actually, not just a smile, as that’s simply not enough for #TeamLuna. I know that it might feel impossible right now, but we can do our best to raise our energy levels and that will help us cope with whatever comes our way this week. Arguably, this is more important to try at the moment than it has ever been.

Happy New Year to you. I say that with sincerity, honestly. 2021 might feel like it’s not looking up yet, but it will. I have faith that it will. Be grateful that you didn’t live through seven years of 2020 like I did, even though; it probably felt that way to you, didn’t it?

I was totally high on life. I was pumped full of excitement. I was running around, ready for the next big adventure. I mean, it was THE. BEST. DAY. I was pumped. Absolutely pumped. Then, something happened.

We’re enough, just as we are. I promise you, when you embrace that fact, you reach a dangerous level of freedom!

I want to make humans smile. That’s my mission. I want to bring a smile to as many humans as possible, share my wisdom and brighten their day. That’s what I try and do every day. What’s your mission?

Do you how you could become the bravest person on the planet right now? It’s not as difficult as you might think.

We’re hard wired to be honest about our responses, our feelings and at any given time, you can look at us and be 100% certain that what you’re seeing is an honest reflection of how we’re feeling.

We don’t really change as we start taking the steps to achieve the big plans, we just get better at facing our fears head-on and getting the little plans done quickly, without overthinking them.

I know that when the blips happen, it’s hard. Really hard. There’s a downward spiral into ‘if only things were different’ and ‘I can’t, because…’.

I know that loads of people go on about self-care and taking time out and all that jazz, but you know there’s more to it than just being nice to yourself, don’t you?

I’m all for setting goals and going after what we want, I just think we need to be open to all the possibilities along the way. We can all enjoy the ride!

I’m feeling quite philosophical this evening. My human was a bit sad and grumpy over the weekend. As you know, sad and grumpy humans aren’t a huge amount of fun.

Are you feeling optimistic? If not. Why not? Have you ever met a pessimistic pooch? Nope. We’re not pessimistic by nature. We can train you to be more like us and adopt a sunny, optimistic disposition. You just need to change two things. Two little things. Who wouldn’t want that?

Have you ever had a moan about someone who made you grumpy? I bet you have! Every human I have ever met has had a moan about someone who has made them grumpy. Here’s the weird thing though...

Time is a funny thing. The way you measure it is flawed. Forget that annoying beepy thing you wear on your wrist and have a think about this…

I made new friends and that’s what I would like to tell you about. Meeting new friends is really good for the soul. It’s easy as we get older to get stuck in a rut. We stick to the same walks, the same fields, the same humans and sniff the same old sniffs. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with that, but there’s a strong chance we’re missing out.

You humans often have a habit of comparing yourself to other people. That habit sometimes extends to comparing how you look, what you earn, your friendship circle, your relationship status… and don’t get me started on reactions to social media. In the midst of the comparisonitis (it’s a word!), it’s easy to forget how freaking awesome you are. Just as you are.

I have recently learned that there’s a theory among you human folk that involves you being the average of the people you spend the most time with. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t one or more of the ‘people’ you spend the most time with a dog? Thought so!

I’ve been doing my best to help my human over the last few days. She has taken up yoga, which means she’s spending quite a lot of time on the floor, watching another human on the little screen she carries around with her. I have joined her and tried to assist, but she’s not convinced I know what I’m doing. She’s wrong!

I’d like to take a moment of your time this morning to talk with you about freedom. Now, I’m not just talking about some off-lead fun, playing in the park and checking your pee-mail whenever you want. I’m talking about real freedom. I’ve just returned from my morning walk and I would like to mention a couple of things that happened.

When the human is teaching me something new, she helps me to focus on what she DOES want me to do and tries really hard not to get grumpy when I forget everything she has taught me.

Five cues, all for you! Lessons to live your life by!

I want to invite you to divert your attention from whatever you have going on today. Let’s remember our priorities.

You will never see me on my phone when I’m spending time with my human. Ok, so the lack of opposable thumbs might be part of the reason, along with the fact I’m a dog, but the main reason is that I want to enjoy the time we have together. I have seen you, humans, playing on your phones and pretending you’re listening to each other, pretending that you really are concentrating on what’s being said or worst of all, pretending that you’re spending time with your canine.

I have a challenge for you. Let’s create a #TeamLuna ripple effect of kindness. Do something nice for someone who can’t pay you back… but who can pay it forward in their own way if they choose to. You don’t have to tell anyone what you’ve done, just know that you’ve made a difference and contributed to a ripple of kindness that could sweep across the world.

As ‘life happens’ this week, it probably won’t all be fabulous. When things don’t go exactly the way you had planned, #TeamLuna, remember that compassion is something you deserve too.

It’s a well-known fact that dogs have a special talent when it comes to letting humans know that they matter. You just have to observe us as our favourite humans walk into the room after they’ve been out at work, or been shopping… or if they have just been in another room for a minute or two. We know how to tell a human that they have been missed. They’re left in no doubt that we’re pleased to see them. How do you react when you see your favourite human after some time apart?

I have complete faith that whatever happens today, I will get through it. You see, I have a pretty good track record. I am proud to announce that just like you, I have survived 100% of my ruff days. That’s pretty impressive, isn’t it? We’ve all had some pretty ruff days, haven’t we? Looking back, I sometimes wonder how I got through some of those days at all. But, I did. I’m here now, facing the start of a brand-new week, full of possibilities.

As you know, I’m a rescue dog and I had a pretty rough start in life. I can choose the lessons that I take from those early years though. Every painful experience contains a lesson and it is completely up to us what that lesson is. You see, whatever the lesson is, we’re making it up, so it makes sense to choose something that makes us feel better, not worse, right?

I helped my human today. If you follow my ever-so-simple advice, I’ll help you too. Sometimes it all gets a bit much. The list of things that your ‘need’ to do in a day is probably unrealistic to begin with and then you feel like a failure if you don’t tick everything off it. While you’re worrying about how you’re going to get everything done, you manage to get almost nothing done. You’ve been busy all day and yet somehow, the list becomes longer. How does that happen?

It happens. I’m sure you know that feeling, when everything seems to go wrong all at once. You get taken to the vets, lose your favourite ball and realise that your human has cancelled your playdate with your best friend. One of those things is bad enough, but all three? Life can be unfair. It’s easy to get grumpy, to think that the universe is conspiring against you, to get into your bed and vow to stay there, not even emerging for a biscuit. Well, let’s not be silly about this, but you take my point...

You know when you feel really rubbish, when you have those days when nothing is going your way and you just want to cry? Well, when you have those days, how do my canine friends make you feel? We’re there for you, aren’t we? We know when you’re down and we know that we can try and make you feel a little bit better...

You might have noticed that us dogs don’t judge you. We only care about how kind you are. Kindness isn’t just about how you treat us and how you treat others, it starts with the way you treat the human you see in the mirror.

Let’s be realistic about our expectations for a minute. We are all a work in progress. All of us. Every day, we need to be kind to ourselves and remember that we’re doing our best. As a reminder, here are Three Ps of human training that I have devised after careful observation of numerous perfectly imperfect humans.

Would you like to know one of my (many) secrets to happiness? Yes? I thought so. It won’t surprise you to read that it’s simple. After all, us hounds don’t like to overcomplicate things. That’s your job. Here it is. As a general rule, I do what I love and I love what I do. Simple.

Have you ever sat and listened to a group of humans chatting? I mean, really listened? I have. These chats always involve a cuppa and usually involve a biscuit. I use the presence of the biscuit as my excuse to stay in the room, but really, I’m there to listen. Here’s what I have learnt over the last few months of listening to these conversations...

The fact I haven’t caught a squirrel yet doesn’t stop me trying. On the contrary, with every chase, every near miss and every new attempt, I learn something new. I am more determined than ever to reach my goal and I will keep trying for as long as it takes.

If you have something to do today that you’ve been putting off or you’ve been overthinking and therefore it hasn’t been completed yet… get excited about it!