Are you a “dog”?

I’m a dog person.  Our dogs were terrific companions; part of the family; social; lovable.  But today’s context isn’t about that kind of dog. 

While at a local King Soopers grocery store recently, Sherry, a store team member, bought a copy of my book.  While I was signing it, she shared one of her hobbies; sculpting custom wolf images:

But today’s context isn’t about that kind of wolf. 

At that same store a customer came by wearing a high school wrestling team T-shirt with this: 

     Everyone is fatigued         

          Everyone is frustrated 

              Everyone has an excuse 

                   Don’t be an everyone – be a Dog! 

Dogs; wolves; sports competition.  Who came up with, “be a dog”?  The Google machine says it originated with the idiom, “It’s a dog eat dog world” and that originated as early as 43 B.C. in ancient Rome.  (Sounds like a Roman thing, yes?) 

Sports fan hear lots of boasts these days about being “a dog”.  The context applies to great players; tough players; competitive players; no excuses players like the customer’s T-shirt said.  One legendary collegiate basketball coach put it this way: 

Al McGuire, former head basketball coach of Marquette University, once said, “A team should be an extension of the coach’s personality.  My teams were arrogant and obnoxious.”

“Arrogant and obnoxious”… sounds like the recent WNBA Hoo-Ha involving Caitlin Clark,  physical/flagrant fouls, and all of the off-court barking about it.  As a rookie in the professional ranks, maybe she’s being tested to see if she’s “a dog”. 

Angle Reese, women’s college basketball star at LSU and the #7 draft pick by the WNBA Chicago Sky, was being interviewed recently after her team beat the Indiana Fever (team of Caitlin Clark; #1 pick in the same 2024 WNBA draft and considered by many as the greatest women’s college basketball player of all time).  Angel outplayed Caitlin and when asked about her motivation she proclaimed, “I’m a dog.” 

Coincidentally during this year’s NBA Championship playoffs, one of the greats passed away.  Jerry West.  The person whose very image is the NBA logo itself.  Many might describe Jerry as “a dog”.  After all, he still owns the NBA record for the highest scoring average in a playoff series of 46.3 points per game.  46.3 – before the 3-point shot era! 

But Jerry never boasted he was “a dog”.  In fact, I can’t remember Jerry West boasting at all.  Once, when pressed, he said he was a wolf, adding: 

Wolves eat dogs 

Are you competitive?  Are you a tough, no excuses person?  I know lots of people, everyday people whose competition is getting up and going to a job they hate.  Or having a loved one with cancer.  Or, thinking they will never be able to afford their own house. Or; or; or.  Yet there they are showing up; giving what they’ve got; doing the best they can.  They’re tough because they have no other way: 

Tough times don’t last; tough people do. 

Mike Shanahan 

No one is interviewing these everyday people.  They’re not boasting about being some type of canine.  They know – we all know – many around us are dealing with a heavy load.  Philo Judaeus in the book The Fred Factor © put it this way: 

Be kind.  Everyone you meet is fighting a tough battle. 

I may be “a dog” (actually, my co-workers described me as a “lone wolf”) but I know I’m not alone…  no boasting, T-Shirt, or interview needed. 

                                                            GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.