CHARACTER

Have you ever heard or said this phrase...

"My dog is a great judge of character"

There's a reason for that... dogs don't speak.

Dogs see your actions.

Dogs hear inflection but don't truly understand language - and inflection is an aspect of action... it is the action aspect of spoken words.

Dogs see your actions.

Here's another phrase you've probably heard...

Actions speak louder than words.

People say a lot of things.

People talk a lot.

You can say the nicest words but your actions give your true heart away if you say them falsely.

You can say things that sound mean out of frustration or fear but your actions reveal your true heart.

Those actions... those are all dogs see... it is all they truly know.

It is why dogs are such good judges of character.

The dogs know the true person.

Dogs see the true you.

It is why dogs love those they love so unconditionally.

It is also why dogs immediately know who they don’t like... and who they truly dislike.

That’s how dogs earned the title “Man’s Best Friend”.

---

Here's the thing...

I think some people - sometimes called "over-thinkers'' - are blessed/cursed with this ability to varying extents.

They are processing so much stimulus all the time due to the their lack of an inbound filter that most people take for granted that they have had to learn, simply as a survival skill to quiet their mind, to de-prioritize superfluous input and prioritize valuable input - quickly and accurately...

This means they can come off as analytic, annoying, overly sensitive... and odd.

But this also means they are acutely aware of your actions...

This is the main reason so many get so frustrated with them - because they see the real heart of a person.

They see the real 'you'.

This is not to say they are always correct on the specific intent of one-off comments - they get that wrong A LOT because, unlike dogs, they do understand language and the disconnect between spoken words and intent/truth can be overwhelmingly disorienting for them...

They want the world to make sense - but it, more often than not, doesn't.

That said, they do tend to get a solid overall read on a person's true character - their true heart.

If they like someone they cling to that person (that can be overwhelming because most people are not used to a friendship of that caliber from other than a dog) because they experience peace with that person - that person's words, their actions, and their true heart all align and that is quiet and comfortable and very calming.

If they dislike someone they dislike them 100% because they dislike that person's heart. That person's words, actions, and heart are a cacophony of disjointed mayhem. It is loud and confusing and disorienting.

And if you listen to many of them describe those they dislike you learn that it can be excruciating to them to be around those people ... and I mean truly excruciating - mentally but also physically. I believe it is because of the mental chaos of the contradictions that person's presence forces them to process and the physical stress created in trying to process it - but that's just my interpretation.  

Many well-intentioned people will try to help by looking for a middle ground where the dislike-er and the dislike-ee can meet halfway but there is almost nothing you can do to bring those two people together - distrust at that level is not surmountable and trying is literally torturous to the person.

Would you ever look at your dog and ask it to spend an hour with someone it bears its teeth at and snarls at continually?

Good people don't mind being seen.

Others don't like it at all.

Many people like to be seen the way they want to be seen - not for who they truly are.

Many people (we'll call them 'others') don't like people 'who are who they are' because it reminds 'others' that aren't that they aren't... ... ... ...re-read it - it will make sense.

Think about it - ever seen an 'other' who has a dog that actually likes them?

Really think about that... think it all the way through.

---

The Moral:

If your dog likes someone, keep that person close.

If your dog doesn't like someone... don't.