Embracing a Rad Life: Canine Companionship, Masterful Listening, and the Mighty Power of Paws

Speaker 1 Welcome back, masterful listeners. This episode is called Embracing a Rad Life, Canine Companionship, Masterful Listening, and the Mighty Power of Paws. It's dedicated to my favorite being in the whole world, my doggy Rad. And I'm going to share the story of how this incredible dog came into my life.

Speaker 2 Rad stands for really awesome detour. So let's do it.

Speaker 1 So I wrote a poem for Rad this week, and I'm going to read it to you right now. It's going to highlight some of the things that I not just love most about him, because if you have a dog companion in your life, you probably love your doggy so much. And it is the kind of love that I never really understood until I experienced it. I think it's true. Some things in life you just don't know. Well, you don't know until you know. And then it's like, how did I even live without this part of my life? And Rad isn't just a super rad dog. He

Speaker 1 teaches me so many lessons. And they're so tied to masterful listening. And so that's what this episode is about. If you have a dog, this might inspire you to pay attention even more to not just the moments with them that you love, but the opportunity to constantly be learning from everyone in our lives, and especially our canine companions. So here's the poem I wrote In a world of wonder, my rad, my guide, a masterful listener, always by my side. He teaches me mindfulness in each playful stride, embracing the present with pause and pride. From snuggles in bed to cucumbers, he tastes rad zest for life. No

Speaker 1 challenge goes to waste. He once ate kibble, but now he explores honey, carrots, blueberries, and so much more. Adopted at nine, proving it's never too late to find love and joy, to change our own fate. He sets clear boundaries, a lesson well learned, not taking it personally. His trust is earned. He knows how to chill and when to go wild, a reminder to listen like a curious child. Together we stroll in a leisurely dance, occasionally zooming, taking a chance, rads friendly to strangers, spreading delight, choosing connections that feel just right, in stylish clothes and funky hats, a star expressing himself no matter where we are. Time

Speaker 1 is precious, he whispers in my ear. Cherish each moment, hold it near and dear. But though tears may fall at the thought of goodbye in the now with Rad, I'll laugh as I cry. He pees and poops, finding joy in it all, embracing life's moments, big and small, slowly building trust, our bond becomes strong, patience and time never steering us wrong. Rad, my companion, my teacher, so true, epitome of a listener guiding me through. With every wag and bark in his playful way, he teaches me lessons day after day. So once again, this one goes out to you, my love, Rad, also known as Radagast, which

Speaker 1 was his name when I adopted him. He's my guest for today, and he is sitting right next to me, although you'd never know it because Rad is the most quiet, chill dog I have ever met in my whole life, which suits me very well because I am not super quiet. Um, I'm a pretty chill person, and while I could spend an hour talking about all the reasons I love Rad, as I mentioned earlier, I'm not gonna do that because while this is about rat and inspired by rad, this is more than that. Um, so you know, you might be a dog lover, uh, you might have

Speaker 1 a doggie in your life, or you might be like me who spent 37 years really not liking dogs. Yeah, really. Uh especially in California, that was uh tough. But the truth is, I never had a dog growing up. I was bitten by a dog when I was younger. I didn't think I could take care of a dog. And now that I've spent about a year and a half with Rad, I am convinced that dogs truly are angels that are sent to us in this lifetime to not only give us joy and unconditional love, unlike anything I've ever experienced, but there's so much wisdom that they bring

Speaker 1 to us. And so I'm gonna share the story of how Rad came into my life and all the incredible ways that I've grown since I adopted him back in November of 2022. Uh, so share this one with anyone in your life that not only loves dogs, but who wants to riv riv riv oof, who wants to live a rad life and integrate lessons and of course masterfully listen. So, welcome back to the world's first super rad listening school that you actually really want to go to. By the way, if anyone knows Channing Tatum, please share this with him because it was the movie that he was

Speaker 1 in called Dog that brought Rad into my life on a very slow and foggy Sunday afternoon. But uh before we get into the story, how are you doing, masterful listener? This is episode, I think, 28. Uh, it's pretty amazing because this podcast is about six months old, and in the time that it's existed, it's continued to grow about 600% every two months, which is pretty incredible because I've also realized that of everything I've done in my life, and I've done quite a few things, I think this is truly my favorite way of sharing myself with the world. It encompasses so many things that I truly love,

Speaker 1 like speaking and sharing and listening and teaching and connecting and making art. So I'm really grateful to you for listening. Thank you for all your support. And please do keep sharing the show with those you love if you're finding it helpful and interesting or whatever else you appreciate about it. Um, because it is a school and I promised that it would be the most fun school you'd ever attend. So let me know if you think I'm keeping my promise. All right. So before I get into the story, I want to invite you, as always, to listen masterfully. So if you've been listening, you probably already know

Speaker 1 what that means at this point. And if this is your first time, welcome. And I'm going to give a little summary of what it means to masterfully listen. Masterful listening, first of all, is something that I really believe we can keep working on every single day in so many different ways. There's so many nuances to what it means to masterfully listen. It starts first with listening to ourselves. And then based on that, that is gonna help us show up in the world and with other people in a more masterful way. Meaning when we're having conversations, when we're taking in information, whether uh from a podcast, from

Speaker 1 a workshop, even honestly on TV or mostly, you know, interactions with our loved ones, our colleagues, random strangers, uh, it means you're really, really present. You're paying attention to not just the words, but the tone, the energy, the environment, the sounds. How often do you notice uh a hummingbird or a spider? Have you thought about the fact that that might just be the universe talking to you? And that if you masterfully listen to the environment around you, oh, that is gonna make life so much more not just interesting and magical, but it will help guide you further on your path, the path you are supposed to

Speaker 1 be on. And I do believe we all come here for some purpose. I think a lot of people are searching for purpose and feeling like they're lacking purpose. And if I hadn't been masterfully listening on that Sunday to myself, I would have never adopted a dog because I did not like them. And after decades of people telling me to get a dog, I didn't think that would ever change. And I was so wrong, which is why Rad's name, even though that was his name, I didn't make it up. To me, Rad doesn't just mean like, yeah, super cool, which he totally is, but it's a really

Speaker 1 awesome detour. Some of the greatest detours are the path. The detour can be the path. Rad and I, I'm convinced we're meant to meet. I still don't understand how anyone could have given him up. I adopted him when he was uh eight, turning nine. And two years prior, I was told another lady adopted him. Meaning he's been adopted twice, and he's the sweetest being. And sometimes when I thought, who gave you up? Who hurt you? It literally breaks my heart. I cry, and then I thought, but I'm so glad it happened because you and I were supposed to be in each other's life. It's almost like

Speaker 1 if you meet like a super cool human and they're single and you are, and you're like, oh my God, how did someone, how did something not work out with the other person? And yet, thank you. I guess it wasn't meant to. So listen today through the lens of rad, through the rad lens. Take a moment now and think about the most really awesome detours of your life. Maybe it meant you took a trip somewhere, you weren't gonna go. Maybe it means you met a person who completely changed your life. Maybe it literally means you were on a road trip and there was traffic or construction and

Speaker 1 you had to go another way and you found something unexpected. Maybe this podcast is some sort of really awesome detour. You know, I don't really love podcasts. I never really listened to them. I love them more now because now that I've started mine, I've been listening more to others just to learn and to get inspired. But in a pretty big way, this show and me finally doing it and the way it happened was a really awesome detour. And other than rad, it's probably one of the best awesome detours of my life because it got me aligned with for sure my path. So, with that, where I

Speaker 1 wherever you just went, whatever you thought about as your really awesome detour, let it go. And let's get into the story. So it was a Sunday afternoon, about a year and a half ago, and I had woken up feeling uh garbagey. Bad, bad, bad. Why? Because as someone who really does not go out a lot, I don't go out often. I do not stay out late. I don't go to bars, I don't drink. It's just a choice. I realized that I mean, alcohol makes me sick. I feel like it's kind of poison. And I say that as someone who smokes a cigarette from time to time.

Speaker 1 Okay. So, you know, we all have our vices. And what I did the night before was I did go out to a bar because my exception for when I do go out is if it's a friend's, like a special occasion. So if it's like a birthday, or in this case, it was a musical performance. And when people perform and share their art, I try to support them because so many people have come out to my photography shows, speaking engagements, whatever. It means a lot. So I went out and it happened to be Halloween, which I do not love as a holiday. I once had a crappy

Speaker 1 Halloween, literally almost 20 years ago. And since then, I've just kind of had this like, I don't like it. I don't want to dress up. I dress up every day. I don't want to get drunk with a bunch of people. Usually there's like a debauchery type of feeling on Halloween. But I went out and I dressed up as J-Lo, but like J-Lo from the early 2000s, like Jenny from the block. I felt pretty cool. I went out. I was like, okay. Now I didn't drink a lot. Maybe I had a cocktail, but I stayed out late. I was at a loud place. I ended up coming

Speaker 1 home probably around one in the morning, which is way past my usual bedtime. I ate some crappy food and I woke up the next day with a horrible headache. Oh my God. You know, my head is pounding. I feel dehydrated. And there's definitely a part of me that's like, why did you do this? So I thought, okay, I don't want to ruin the whole day, but I'm in just like a really low energy. So I'm just gonna lay down and I'm gonna watch a movie. I love movies. So I'm on my couch and I turn on the TV and it was on Amazon Prime. I guess

Speaker 1 that's what I was watching last. And the cover of the, you know, whenever you open up a whatever streaming service, there's usually something they're promoting. And it was, it just said dog, this movie, dog. I'd never heard of this movie, and I saw it was Channing Tatum. There was a dog. I thought, ah, this looks cute. So I start watching this movie. And for the next what, I don't know, 90 minutes, I was not only so engaged in the story, but I was crying. I was feeling so much. And when I tuned into my feeling and my heart at the end of that film, I heard

Speaker 1 this voice inside that said, I think I want to get a dog, literally for the first time ever. So I listened because I do trust my inner voice at this point, especially one that's like yearning for something. You know, we have a lot of voices in our head, and sometimes those voices are sabotaging us. Usually that's when we're hearing really shitty stories and there's fear. And I think the story that I see show up in most people as a coach is I'm not good enough. I can't do that. That is typically not a voice I suggest listening to. There might be some wisdom in that voice,

Speaker 1 but most of it is just a fear-based protective response that doesn't lead us towards what I believe is our, you know, the path that we really came here to be on. But this voice was a different voice. It was a very calm voice. It was a very clear voice. And it felt like, oh, I'm gonna masterfully listen to this one. So I literally went on my phone and I looked up the nearest shelter, and I looked at the doggies, and there were a few that looked kind of cute that I was drawn to. So I called the shelter. It was a Sunday, I think they were

Speaker 1 closed, but I left a voicemail, and the next day they called me back and I spoke to a lovely lady and I told her a little bit about me. I basically said, Hi, okay, well, I'm Svetlana and I'm 37 and I've never had a dog, but I feel like I'd really like to get a dog, but there's a few things that I feel like I really need in a dog. And I said, Well, I really can't handle barking. So I need a dog who like doesn't really bark and who's well trained because three months before this Sunday, I had started a hat company called Rad Hats

Speaker 1 for Rad Humans. If you're watching the video, this is the tag. I just have them laying around for my hat company. Rad. Yes, rad hat. I like the word rad. I don't even know how that name for the company came to me. I think I just started painting a hat one day and then I wore it. And if somebody said, Oh, that's a really rad hat. And I'm like, oh, it is. And that's how my company was born. So that's an interesting piece of the story, too, because people think I named Rad after my company, or I named my company after rad, but that is not

Speaker 1 the case. I started this company, Rad Hats, for rad humans, and then Radagast comes into my life. So what was funny was there was this other dog. I don't remember the name at this point anymore, but I think uh I was just, it was cute. Rad, I didn't see rat online. And funny enough, if I had seen rat online, I don't even know if I would have been drawn to rat as much because first of all, he was older. He was eight at the time. Um, he was just about to turn nine. And again, I didn't know much about dogs, but I was kind of thinking

Speaker 1 I should get not a super like young puppy, but not like a really older dog. But I needed, again, I said he has to be well trained, or the dog has to be well trained, can't bark, can't have accidents because I have art supplies everywhere. I have tools everywhere. And a lot of the dogs that I knew were a little wild. They would like eat shit and um, like literally just like chew on things and just they were wild and I can't handle that energy. Um, so it was funny. I feel like I was describing a dog that wasn't really like a dog, like super chill,

Speaker 1 uh, doesn't bark. How many dogs have you met that just do not bark? I hadn't met any. And the woman I was talking to goes, you know, based on what you just said to me, I don't think this dog that you're looking at online is your dog. But you know, this dog just came in like two days ago. He's super sweet. He's older, he's really calm. I think you might really like him. His name is Radagast. And I said, huh? She's like, Yeah, Radagast, like the wizard from Lord of the Rings. And I'm like, huh? I didn't watch Lord of the Rings. She goes, We call

Speaker 1 him Rad. And I'm like, Rad? Whoa. Okay, so instantly I was curious. And she said, Why don't you just come and meet him? I said, Okay. The next day I go to the shelter. Shout out to Marin Humane in Novato. And I was so nervous, though I had a friend come with me. I'm telling you, I have never hung out or had a dog. I was terrified, but I was drawn. So that's the other thing here. Masterful listening means that even if you get a feeling or an idea that doesn't make sense, but it feels like it's coming from your heart, from some place that so

Speaker 1 often we don't understand where our thoughts and feelings come from, but pay attention to them. If I hadn't paid attention to a the dog movie and be that feeling, that almost knowing inside of me, I would have never been at that shelter. And I brought my friend with me, which was good too, because I wanted to take care of that nervousness I felt because I wanted to honor it. It made sense that I didn't feel that comfortable. I didn't know anything about dogs. My friend came with me, and I remember when Rad, there's this little courtyard, and I was sitting down. They brought him in there.

Speaker 1 He super gently walked over to me and just put his head on my knee and just looked at me. And I was like, oh my God, this is it. This is Rad. This is my doggie. And so I filled out their form and they said you can come get them tomorrow. I think there's certain days where you can bring them home and not. That was this was a Tuesday. So, um Wednesday, I was supposed to come back and get him. And again, I was excited, but I was terrified. So I asked another friend to come with me, and she did. So I show up with my

Speaker 1 friend to get Rad. And I remember walking out with him that day. You know, I got a harness and a leash, and I never even walked a dog on a leash. And I got him in the car. He was so excited. I was also like, oh my God, I listen to music all the time. What if Rad goes crazy with music? He jumped in that car. He was so excited. I have a video of that first time he got in the car. He loves being in the car. And I put on my music. He was super chill. He just sat down. And there we, there we,

Speaker 1 there we go. That was the adventure. I took him home. I remember walking into my house and he was so excited, wagging his tail, and he was so curious. And he just walked all around. The video I have of that, he's still on a leash. I literally kept him on a leash at the house at first. I like, I just didn't know what he was gonna do. And from there, Rad has been the most incredible companion. First of all, the thing about dogs that I'm sure if you're a dog person, you know, is they just are always so excited to see you. Like whether I'm away

Speaker 1 for three minutes or hours, Rad is just so stoked to be in my presence. He has never eaten something he wasn't supposed to eat. Well, he did once get into some old cheese, but that was only because we moved and I left him home for the first time in a new place. And I think he was nervous, and I came home and he somehow got into some cheese that I'd left out. The reason I left it out was because I had him for a year. He'd never touched any food, even though he has a very healthy appetite. Um, he's never, you know, eaten a shoe or

Speaker 1 chewed on any of my clothes or art supplies. Uh it's really incredible. He's a cattle dog. And also, cattle dogs, from what I've learned, are like super energetic and aggressive. And he's just not. He does get zoomies from time to time, which by the way, the first time Rad got zoomies, which if you don't know what that is, they just get this burst of energy and they start running around like maniacs. I got so scared. I like jumped up on a chair because I thought he was going nuts. And then I learned that zoomies are actually a sign of healthy dogs. And as I had Rad,

Speaker 1 as more time went on, as I was falling in love with him, I was like, oh my God, but he's older. That means he's gonna die sooner. And then I did some research about well, how to keep dogs healthy. And first of all, I found that the oldest living dog at that time was his breed. And I thought, okay, I think that dog lived till like 29, which is like 200 in dog years. So since I got him, Rad had stomach issues. He had like really bad diarrhea. Never in the house, I want to say. It's it's kind of amazing. Um, but I they gave me

Speaker 1 all this kibble type of food. I thought, okay, my goal is I'm gonna feed him the best food possible. Because I thought, well, what would make a human live longer? Okay, diet, exercise, I'm gonna walk him, which would be good for me too. Um, and I'm just gonna give him as much love as I can. So in the 90 days, huh? No, year and a half that I've had him, he went from eating like kibble, which I am really seeing is like horrible for dogs. So, by the way, if you have a dog that you love, look at what you're feeding your dog. Because if there

Speaker 1 are ingredients in your dog's food that you cannot pronounce, probably not the best thing to give to the being you love the most, right? I now feed him raw organic food or I make him food. I researched, I make him a stew that is organic chicken, beef, broth, bone broth, chicken liver, organs are really good for dogs, green beans, cabbage. Rad's favorite snack now is I cut up a cucumber or a carrot and he sits there and he holds it with his paws and he loves it. I don't buy any processed treats. I don't buy any processed food. I make him every meal and every meal

Speaker 1 I give him, I give him a little prayer and I say, May this make you healthy, may this make you vibrant. And I gotta say, Rad has aged backwards. He's lost weight, which I was told he was a little overweight, like me. I've lost 30 pounds since having Rad. He's lost six, which, you know, for his weight is a lot. Um, he has more energy. He gets zoomies all the time. I take as many walks with him as I can. I give him the healthiest food as I can. And every day he teaches me lessons. So I just want to share a few of those lessons

Speaker 1 because they truly are life lessons that have guided me. The first one is, and this is hilarious, Rad loves to go outside and just stand there and smell the air. This was so funny when I first got him, and it was a little annoying because I'd be like, come on, come on, and I would like pull him. And then it hit me one day. Why am I pulling Rad? He's literally meditating. He's taking a moment to appreciate just the air. He's looking around with so much curiosity, and he has such joy at just standing outside and doing a nothing. And so I had this moment once

Speaker 1 where we were in this beautiful place where I could tell he really loved it. It was this little redwood forest in Mill Valley, which is the town next to the town I live in. And he was just, he kept wanting to walk, he kept wanting to walk, and I was like, come on. I was like getting kind of like, let's go, let's go. And I was pulling him. And then I just started crying because it hit me that the thing that I tell everyone is my biggest stressor is when I feel rushed. My mantra is I am exactly perfectly on time because I feel like I've

Speaker 1 been running my whole life. I felt like I was late. And I realized, oh my God, I am doing to Rad what I hate when others or I do to me. And since then, anytime he stops, he just, you know, breathes the air. I stop with him. I breathe. I have a little moment of presence. So the first thing he's taught me is just stop and smell the air. Even if you're in the middle of the road, but be careful, you know, we don't want to get hit by a car. The other thing is the constant curiosity. Even in the same place. We take walks in

Speaker 1 our neighborhood every day, but I try to mix up our walks because that's another thing I heard about how dogs live longer. Yes, they need physical exercise, but their smelling of stuff that is their mental exercise. So I try to take him on at least one unique walk every day, like a place we don't usually go. I probably have about 10 places we go. And then, like today, I'm gonna take him into San Francisco because I realize, oh, I have to go pick some stuff up. Oh, he's not been there with me. Cool. So mixing it up, how cool of a reminder, though, is that? Because

Speaker 1 when we as humans mix up the things that we do, we go to a different place, we take a new walk. That's good for our mental health as well, as it's great for our physical health. And rad, you know, a lot of dogs, well, they obviously pee all over the place. Rad pees like a hundred times on a walk. It's funny. Anyone who's walked me and Rad uh says that, they're like, wow, he really does pee so much more than other dogs. And I'm like, I know. It used to be annoying as well. I'm like, we like I'd be like, oh, I'll meet you guys in

Speaker 1 an hour. I'll walk with Rad. And it would take me two hours because he literally stops all the time. And it is not nice to make your doggie feel like you're constantly rushing them. So I'd let him stop. And it that's also a lesson because he wants to explore and smell and leave his scent in as many places as possible. How cute is that? He wants to take it slow. I always say, I am a fast talker, slow walker. I love to stroll. Rad is the first being that I have met that likes to walk as slowly as I do. I've always joked that most of

Speaker 1 the people I've dated just I felt like I had to like walk way too fast to keep up with them. And that was such a bad feeling. And I've always thought, when am I gonna meet someone who can just stroll with me? And I did. Hey guys, seriously, Rad is the man I've been searching for my whole life, and I'm not kidding. Now, it does not mean that I would not welcome happily another Rad human man who, you know, was not a dog to walk slowly with us, but I love that he slowed me down. Also, once in a while, he'll just want to run. I

Speaker 1 mean fast too. That's where I'm like, ooh, cattle dog, you must have been a wild one when you were younger, right? And we'll just start running. Like I even got myself running shoes, and I do not like to run. That is my least favorite form of exercise. Now that I've lost 30 pounds, though, my knees don't hurt me as much. So I always put on shoes on our walk that I know if I have to suddenly sprint, I can do it. And what I also love about what he does is he'll run for like 20, 30 seconds and then he'll just totally chill out, which is

Speaker 1 again my perfect lesson and what I enjoy because it's not only like interval training, which is great for you for your cardiovascular health, but it's like doable. It's balanced. He's not trying to run for an hour. I don't know if I could do that. I don't know if I'd want to do that. But like these little bursts of run, then walk, then you know, just take it slow, then go fast. It's just such a reminder that different paces are good. And when we have a partner in our life and they want to run, maybe we run with them. They want to go slow, maybe we slow

Speaker 1 down. There's like nothing more kind, I think, than being able to match the pace of whoever you're with sometimes, right? Because sometimes Rad's super slow pace. If I have to teach a class and I don't have two hours to walk him, I have to be like, come on, buddy, we're going. We gotta go, we gotta go. So I will move him along, but I was moving him along so much, but I wasn't letting him choose, you know? And I don't subscribe to this like dogs have to know you're their master and they have to listen to everything you say. Yes, right. Like I need Rad to

Speaker 1 sit down or to listen to me. And I want to listen to him too. Why is it only one way? I like when he leads us somewhere. He's led me on to walks to places in Sausolito where I've lived for two years that I've never seen. There's this houseboat community that I never saw until Rad just decided to walk that way on the street. And I swear both of us were like, oh my God, what is this place? I would have never discovered that really awesome detour had I not followed Rad on that really awesome detour. Also, Rad shows me that it is never too learned

Speaker 1 to grow, to change, because what in dog years? Now he just turned 10. So that's like uh 65-ish, I think, in human years. A lot of people would say that at 65, what you're like retired, you're older. How can I learn to change my diet? How can I learn to change my habits? Uh you just can. Our brains neurologically can learn until we're dead, literally. Rad has changed his entire diet. He now lives in a completely different home, right? His behavior has changed too. When I first got him, he would never let me touch his paws. So, like clipping his paws, cleaning his paws. Like he

Speaker 1 was aggressive. That one time or the only time that Rad's gotten like growly or barked is when I've tried to touch his paws or his butt. Um, I think someone must have hurt him. I don't know what it is. We went to the doctor, we checked to see what's going on. He seemed fine, but he's older. So also they tried to like give me a ton of medication for him. And I was like, no, no, no. Before I give my older dog a bunch of drugs, let me just see if we could do some like behavioral training, some love training. This dog lets me hold his

Speaker 1 paws now. He is so sweet and gentle because you know what? He needed time to know me, to trust me. There were times where even though he likes to hang out with me, all the time he would just run off into the other room and just hang out there. And the first few times he did that, because I got so used to him being with me, I'd be like, come back, Rad, come back. And I'd be like almost mad at him. And now I'm like, this little angel is teaching you boundaries. You need some time alone. I probably spend 95% of my life with Rad. So

Speaker 1 actually having some time, some space where he needs some space, cool, bye. I need some space, cool bye. I still usually bring him with me everywhere. But then this past year I said, no, I'm gonna have an hour a day or an a few hours a week or whatever, where I specifically leave him at home on purpose. A, because it's good for him to know that he can just have his own space. But me, me too. When he's with me, I'm always thinking about him. It's funny now. He sits in the front with me, has a little seatbelt. And so anytime I like break, my arm

Speaker 1 goes to him to hold, you know, to protect him. It's really cute now when humans sit next to me. I do that as well. It's funny. Um, but when he's not with me, I drive a little faster. I'm a little more aggressive. I'm not worried about him. Instead, I'm worried about him being at home, which is another thing I've realized. Oh my gosh, Svetlana, you are constantly looking for reasons to be worried. He's fine. He's chilling at home. He's always happy when I get back. He's fine. So he's also helped me trust. Trust that sometimes you gotta let the being you love the most have some

Speaker 1 space. That's okay. Also, the fact that he has the biggest bladder in the history of the universe. Like this dog has not peed for 20 hours. He just is fine. Like, literally, when it rains, he does not want to go outside. We'll wake up in the morning. I like to wake up early, like I don't know, between 6:30 and 7:30. He will wake up with me, snuggle with me sometimes for over an hour. And then our morning routine is I go make coffee, tea, breakfast, he eats breakfast. Then we usually chill for another hour. So he's awake for like three hours before he even wants to

Speaker 1 go outside, which is have you heard of that for a dog? Yeah, me neither. Everyone's like, wow, this is truly remarkable, which really works for me because again, I really love to have a chill flow. Now, if Rad needed to go out, there was one time recently, the only time he's had any even close to what I would call an accident, is I could tell we hadn't been out in a long time. It'd been raining, and then I fed him, and I always pour water in his food so he eat he has, you know, all the water he needs. And he started being a little like

Speaker 1 antsy. And I was like, Oh yeah, we gotta, I gotta take you out. And he literally, uh, we have a very big balcony. I opened the door to the balcony, he ran to the edge of the balcony where there was a little rug, and he peed so much, and I was like, You are so awesome. He didn't do it in the house, he did it outside at the very edge, and I just picked up the rug and I washed it, and I just thought, man, so cool. And also, that was masterful listening too, right? He listened to his body enough to get a bit antsy. I

Speaker 1 listened to him well enough to notice, ooh, that's an interesting behavior he doesn't usually do. And he went outside. Not inside, I gotta say. I mean, that is so nice. My house is still full of so much stuff. And sometimes when this dog zooms around, because of the sheer amount of stuff I have, it's amazing. He's I always say he's like a parkour dog, he'll jump over stuff, he'll like never slam into anything. I watch him and I'm like, you are the most coordinated being I have ever seen. And he's older. Remember, he's 10 years old. Some dogs at his age like seem old. Rad seems

Speaker 1 so young, but he has a cute little beard. It's so, it's so adorable. When I saw his beard at first, honestly, when I just saw him at first, I didn't think he was that cute. Now he he's so cute. Um, he has white little eyelashes, which I also didn't notice until I had him for a few months. Someone else said, Oh, look at his white eyelashes. And I was like, Oh my god, I hadn't even noticed. So also, Rad's reminded me that every day we could see something we don't uh notice before. How cool is that? There's magic everywhere. The enthusiasm with which he walks the

Speaker 1 same walk, smells the same smells, goes up to people with such joy and kindness, is so, I mean, it just warms my heart. And sometimes, specifically around German shepherds, I don't know what this is about. Maybe it's the energy or the size. He's like a middle, mid-sized dog. He weighs about maybe 48, 50 pounds. Um, he goes, like, he'll see a German shepherd and he'll bark and be like, oh. And so I'm like, cool, you know who you like, you know who you don't like. I think a responsible dog owner will never let their dog on a leash just go up to other dogs. That causes

Speaker 1 problems. I once had rat attacked by a little dog who was so aggressive, and I they were off-leash too. And, you know, if you're gonna, I've learned so much about dogs, by the way. I could like do a podcast series just about dogs. Not like I'm an expert, but I've really, really, really wanted to educate myself. Dogs shouldn't really say hello unless they're on like equal type of territory. Meaning, if you're introducing new dogs, do it not in one of their homes, right? Do it outside. If they're both on a leash, probably not good. Have you ever seen the leashes get tied? And then that, you

Speaker 1 know, dogs feel their humans' energy. If if you're walking your dog, he goes to say hi to some dog, their leashes get caught, you get nervous, then the dog gets nervous. So if one dog is on a leash and one dog is off a leash, also not great. Both should be off a leash. But this little asshole fucking dog was so aggressive, barking and jumping on Rad that Rad got aggressive. And I was telling the owner, get your dog under control. And he's like, I can't. I'm like, you should not have a dog. You know, the worst thing is imagining your dog getting hurt or another

Speaker 1 dog getting hurt. And now I am so fierce about this. I will not go near other dogs that I feel energetically a no, I don't care if your dog wants to say hello. I don't. It's like I don't have to go up to a person I don't feel drawn to. It's the same thing. You know what I mean? So Rat has also taught me to respect that there's people I like, there's people I don't. That's fine. There's people I'm drawn to, there's people I'm not. I don't have to say hi to anybody. Now, do I want to be aggressive and bark at humans? No. You know,

Speaker 1 there's no like, oh, let's just be polite. I mean, yes, I'm not gonna be an asshole to I mean, I might be an asshole sometimes. Also, I just got a little distracted for a second and I don't even know what I said because I'm wearing my smart glasses and they started talking to me. So actually, that would be funny to listen back to. I'm just gonna keep rolling with it. Um, but yeah, just like you know, sometimes dogs aggressively bark at other dogs. Just I don't know why. People do that too, right? We see someone, we might not like them, we might be rude. No, I

Speaker 1 would say, listen, if you're not going out of your way to hurt someone, you be you. If you're not drawn to me, don't come near me. If you are, come near me politely. Ask, hey, may I approach you? May I, whatever you, may I, you know, with a dog, may I say hi to your dog? Now I say yes. You can be very gentle, do not touch his face. You can touch him on his back, be Specific. It's okay. It's good. It's healthy. Tell people what they can and cannot do. Rat has taught me that too. Because if they disrespect you, yeah, I'm going to growl

Speaker 1 at you or bark at you or yell at you or even get physical with you. Because if a human being came up to me and punched me, oh, uh, I'd probably punch him back if I had to, right? If I felt attacked. Now, would I go up to someone and start a physical fight? I don't know what would make me do that. Just like Rad, because I want to be more like Rad. I really do. Rad helps me slow down, have deep curiosity, even about the things I know about and about the things I don't. Rad reminds me that sometimes you be friendly, sometimes you don't.

Speaker 1 It's okay. Just don't go out of your way to hurt anyone else. That's not cool because if you attack someone, they have a right to attack you back. I do believe that. Why not? Why do I have a right to be aggressive and you don't? That doesn't seem very fair. Um, Rad teaches me the importance of having rules, but bending them. Take a detour might be really awesome. And the power of training and growth and that we can always grow and learn. All righty. I wish he was right here. He's sleeping in his bed right now or in my bed. Oh, yeah. That's the last thing

Speaker 1 I'm going to mention before I start to wrap up. I said I will never let a dog sleep in my bed. Ugh, gross. Ugh, dogs shed everywhere. I will never let a dog lick my face. I get so many kisses. I ask for kisses. I kiss Rad. He's in my bed. He's not under the sheets though. So there we go. Uh allow yourself to be surprised. Allow yourself to masterfully listen enough to the world, to your heart, to your head, to your soul. Because if you do, you might just stumble upon what it means to live a truly rad life. And it is so hard to

Speaker 1 live life sometimes, especially if you're stuck in a routine, if you've been in something that hasn't felt good. But there's a mighty power in pausing and paying attention, really. Not to everyone else who's telling you stuff. People told me for decades to get a dog. Nope. It's when I had this calling inside that said, I think I want to get a dog. And I followed that detour. Greatest gift of my life. I probably once a week cry hard when I wake up with Rad and I see him. And I feel the overwhelming, unconditional love, unlike anything I've ever felt before. I realize he's gonna be gone

Speaker 1 at some point. And I cry so hard because honestly, I cannot imagine my life now without Rad. But I realize somewhere rationally, it most likely will happen. So I let myself grieve and cry and feel such sadness and pain, which is another thing I want to share. Because actually, in the happiness research that I've done throughout my 20s, I learned that Bhutan, which is considered, if not the, one of the happiest countries in the world, people have a practice where on average they think about death for six minutes a day. I think that was at least the data a while ago. And that might sound kind

Speaker 1 of morbid to some. When I told a few people that I just cry so hard about Rad dying, they'd be like, no, why do you do that? I'm like, because I will feel so much pain around that death. I know it. That if I let myself feel it already, it's like I've started to accept and process it. And you know what happens after I spend however long crying? Sometimes it just comes on randomly. I go, okay, and yet look, I have him now. I have him now, and it makes me even more appreciative. Every day with Rad feels like the best day of my life. It

Speaker 1 feels like a gift that I cannot believe I keep on getting. Seriously. And so Rad has reminded me of mortality and morality, you know what it means to live in a way that you like. But uh we're we're all gonna die. Our dogs will die, and we can choose to live on in gratitude that we even had the time. Every day I have really is such a gift. And I don't get stuck in that sadness or grief, but I feel it. And I think we gotta feel our sadness more, we gotta feel our grief more, we gotta, we gotta feel our anger, all the feelings. But

Speaker 1 don't forget to not get stuck there, but feel the magic, the beauty, the joy, the gratitude. Like I wanna wrap this up just so I can go snuggle with Rad. And I'm gonna do that. So there's the lessons, there's the story. I hope that it resonated for you on a lot of levels. And your homework since we in school is the next time you are called in the next little bit, let's go in the next week, to take some sort of detour. Maybe it's driving a different way, maybe it's eating something different, maybe it's doing something different, whatever. Take it. Take the really awesome detour and

Speaker 1 see what happens. Because you know how I ended up in my new home with Rad? I saw he loved the car so much that he would always run to the car. So when we lived at my old place, we'd walk outside and my car was in my carport and he would always run. And I was also like, come on, Rad, we can't go on a drive every time. And then I thought, why can't we? So we started going on drives every time we took a walk. Most times, let's say 95%. And I thought, you know what? I haven't seen all of Sau Salito. Let's just drive

Speaker 1 through the hills but get lost with nowhere to go. And we just started driving through the hills of Sau Solito. I call them our evening drives, and we listen to music and we look around and we started seeing all these beautiful houses and views. And it became something I really look forward to. My evening drive with Rad. The place we live now is where we would drive. And I would say, wow, this part of Sausalito is incredible. I don't know how I'll ever live here. It felt impossible. But I do. And I think it was because I first said yes to let's just hop in the

Speaker 1 car every time. Kind of seemed silly. And then we just got lost, and then we found ourselves here. Hmm.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Not all who wander are lost. But even if you are lost, oh my gosh, how fun.

Speaker 2 So get lost.

Speaker 1 Stay rad. You are already rad. You just might not know it. And while I have rad to remind me every day, I bet if you started masterfully listening a little more to that curious part that's just drawn to something, you might just discover a detour. That's so awesome. That it might get you even more aligned on the path that you're heading. You know what I mean?

Speaker 3 Okay.

Speaker 1 Now go pet your dog, or go pet a dog, or go love someone, or just pet someone. Pet something. See you next time.