Having spent a considerable amount of time with my English Setter (Helen) since my military retirement, I have come to greatly appreciate the living metaphor she provides in the simple way she comports her life. Helen consistently demonstrates valuable characteristics and habits for a purposeful and joyful passage on this Earth. Had we been more mindful of these daily practices, many of the travails of our surely existence here would have been reduced if not eliminated altogether. Moreover, and personally, it would have been even better for myself and those around me if I had mastered them to the point that they were actually part of my nature as they are with Helen. She simply lives like a birddog because that is how God made her. Humans are a little more complicated, but the lessons are no less valuable as goals for inspired living and achieving the peaceful joy we all so richly deserve.
Purpose: Helen knows that she is a bird dog. She understands with every fiber of her being that she was placed on the Earth to hunt, find, point and retrieve Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock game. Her innate senses, agility, intelligence, endurance and every other attribute that she possesses have evolved to allow her to accomplish this purpose, which began for her as a wobbling puppy. Within a decade, as her boundless energy begins to fade, her final steps will draw her to the covers and glens where she knows the birds lay, until she cannot pursue them anymore. Again, humans have a bit more ambiguous sense of purpose over the courses of our lifetimes. We must seek, discover, embrace, then practice our purposes to achieve a level of master required to live in the service of that very end state. Helen has many joys and interests such as ball chasing, swimming and just walking with me, but all these activities are distant in the periphery of her one true purpose of bird hunting. We, too, must place first things first in our lives in remaining true to our purpose to forsake all the distractions and clutter that our human lives present.
Time: Helen lives an entire week in the course of each human day. That is to say as a bird dog, her time with us is expended at seven times the rate of humans. Accordingly, everything she does in her life is accomplished with a distinct sense of urgency or at least with great intention. Her hunting, loving, napping, play, self-care and natural curiosities are satisfied mindfully as a being whose clock is ticking. Were we all to live with such awareness that our own time does not exist in infinite supply and approach our own habits, work, rest and relationships with an appreciation of their perishable natures.
Love: I have often said in these short writings that birddogs view us through God’s eyes. Helen is no exception as she rarely takes her soulful, brown eyes off me, regardless of what I happen to be doing at the time. Even when I am frustrated or annoyed by her and send her to her kennel, she returns without prejudice to lay her head on my feet at the end of the couch in front of the fire. If only we could view ourselves at times with the unconditional understanding and patience of a birddog, we would be all the better. Of course, to master this unconditional affinity for our own families and other humans as the Golden Rule dictates, our lives would also be richer. This may well be the most important lesson of all that Helen demonstrates without fail in our relationship and leaves me to ponder, “who is the real master here?”
Selflessness: My father and I often hunt with more than one dog at the same time. Hence, with as many as four dogs scouring bird covers simultaneously, one would rightfully expect their natural competitive natures would take over when a downwind breeze betrays the hiding space of a grouse. Birddogs by their very nature work together with a common purpose and once game birds are revealed to their senses, they will “honor” each other’s points. In short, when one birddog points and the other dogs also catch the scent of the same bird, they will all lock up on point rather than selfishly racing forward to “bump” the birds. Their unanimity in these highly charged moments provides an excellent example of a selflessly shared ideology for all of us in a world that drives toxically competitive relationships with coworkers and friends. Watching four hard charging birddogs all honor their collective points is a spectacle of breathtaking beauty when we consider how rare such attributes reveal themselves in the human realm.
Self-Care: My father and I have often marveled at how birddogs can climb out of a black swamp covered in mud, burdock and soaked to the bone only to emerge from their kennel boxes an hour later pure white and perfectly clean. They are masters at self-grooming and maintaining their fur and bodies despite the punishment of a long day’s hunt in the wilds of Northern Maine. Birddogs maintain the highest standards of cleanliness even with their long silky hair and floppy ears. Likewise, at the end of the day with a full belly of warm food, they know it’s time to rest and they will fall asleep anywhere to reclaim the energy they expended on that day’s hunt. In short, when their work is done for the day, they allow themselves complete and unapologetic rest for their bodies and minds having earned it with their diligent efforts in the field that day. We too, should be mindful of our own bodies and spirits the way Helen has her favorite sleeping places and naptimes. She will go to her bed at exactly 8 pm every night and wants to begin her day at 5 am. You can set your watch by her internal schedule. She enjoys her blissful rest periods at my side on our couch and in front of her fire in the evenings without care or worry of the challenges of the coming day. I wish I could do the same with the peaceful ease that she demonstrates.
In closing, I had originally thought to entitle this short piece “Retirement Advice from an English Setter,” but as I watched her today and took a few notes, realized that we would all be well to practice these simple attributes and habits in the course of our lives regardless of the season in which we find ourselves. Helen will no doubt remain a great friend to me in both our personal and professional lives and I will aspire to follow the example she provides for both of our relatively short existences on this Earth. I hope that you will do the same and capture all the love and joy you so richly deserve living your lives surrounded by family and friends, and if you’re lucky, a birddog like Helen.
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