Most people acknowledge that life with dogs lets us to live more in the moment. Here’s why I think that’s true. Human beings tend to focus on problems: we scan the world in order to find things that need fixing, and then apply our intellect to solve them. The dogs I know focus more on solutions: they fixate on things they want more of, like the sandwich on my plate. (This is not to say each species isn’t capable of other kinds of thought, just that my experience tells me that each prioritizes one more than the other.)

There are disadvantages to each approach, of course. Humans can get too caught up in the negative and miss out on all the wonderful things that are happening in the moment. Dogs, on the other hand, can seem indifferent when confronted with sickness, weakness, or injury in another creature, preferring to direct their efforts toward the more robust animals around them. I like to try and incorporate the best of each species into my dealings with dogs, and take advantage of each species’ strengths.

Spending a little time looking at the world from a dog’s viewpoint can help us ask for the best behaviors from our dogs in an easy, natural way. The best dog training advice I can give anyone for any issue is to shine a light on dogs’ best moments, and pay less heed to their worse ones. I learned this from my first dog, Violet, and I will always be in her debt for sharing this skill with me. I try to use it with everyone, and my life has gotten better on so many levels.

Many dog owners pay more attention to their dogs when they’re being noisy, unruly, or intense, and ignore their dogs when they’re being calm and quiet. This is very normal and very human, but it doesn’t work well with dogs. Instead, try and connect with your dog when they’re doing any behavior you want to see more often. Waiting patiently for the supper bowl—good job, here you go. Walking nicely beside me—wonderful, let’s go explore that lamppost all the neighborhood dogs pee on. Just lying there–great, let me scratch your chin.

Take advantage of the most profound thing that dogs can offer us and pay attention in the moment, every moment. Even a nano-second ago is useless, irrelevant, gone.

What is happening now?