What Pets Can Teach Us About Being Grateful: 30 Days Of Gratitude

ACROSS AMERICA — We’ll let the scientists debate whether dogs and other animals can practice gratitude (spoiler alert: There is plenty of evidence-based science to suggest showing gratitude isn’t a uniquely human behavior).

There is no question, though, that Marie Manzi of Lockport, Illinois, is grateful the rescue dog Goldie came to live with her.

How that happened could be characterized as a lucky break — literally.

The van the 4-month-old puppy was traveling in from Kentucky broke down on the highway, and Tender Loving Care Animal Shelter of Homer Glen, Illinois, went on an overnight mission to rescue Goldie.

Patch explores the intentionality of gratitude in "30 Days Of Gratitude." Come back to Across America Patch every day through November and read more about gratitude.

Experts in the science of gratitude and regular people who practice it might say Goldie didn’t just land in Manzi’s lap through blind luck but that her life is enriched because she is grateful.

Or as Dan Knight, whose story of living with gratitude kicked off Patch’s 30 Days Of Gratitude series, put it: “It's not what comes to us. It's what we give to others. The more you give, the more you have to give.”

That’s true for Manzi. She adopted Goldie as a 4-month-old puppy in March 2020, just as people in her state and elsewhere across the country were beginning months of lockdowns and social distancing as the COVID-19 pandemic upended life in general.

Another thing the experts say is that people who practice gratitude have more joy in their lives. That’s also true for Manzi.

“She has been a source of entertainment, joy and companionship these past challenging 18 months,” Manzi commented on a Facebook post earlier this fall when we asked Patch readers what they’re grateful for in their lives.

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Just adopting a pet is practicing gratitude, according to experts. But cats and dogs and other pets can be teachers, too. Here’s an excerpt from the blog post “What Pets Teach Us About Gratitude” by Fur Star Pet Care, a Columbus, Ohio, business whose services include pet sitting:

“Pets aren’t materialistic and image-conscious like humans can be. They don’t need expensive mattresses or a new fall wardrobe. They get excited at mealtimes for food that isn’t appetizing to us.
“Pets are happy with the simple things. Like children, they will play with random things around the house rather than that new toy you bought from the pet store.
“They teach us that it’s the little things that can be the big things. They set an example for being content with what you have which is what gratitude is all about.”

RedRover, a San Francisco-based nonprofit whose services include rescuing animals from crisis situations, offers five ways to show your pet gratitude with extra love and attention. Here, adapted from a RedRover blog post, are a few things people with pets can do to enhance their own feelings of gratitude:

• Write your pets letters about all you’ve learned from them.
• Feature your pets in a collage or wall of appreciation, and tack it on your wall or post it on social media.
• Set up a video camera or push record on your phone and tell the story of how your pet helped turn your house into a home.
• If you rescued your pet, be sure to tell the shelter how grateful you are. Better yet, volunteer, give money or help in some other way. Animal shelters often run on a shoestring budget.

If you’re interested, here’s a Scientific American blog post that explores gratitude in animals.

Read More

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