There once was a traveler who was looking for a hotel to stay in the city; he happened to be traveling with his Pomeranian dog, Misty. He emailed several hotels to see if they would accept his dog, but they all said, “No.” Finally, one hotel owner responded as follows:

You ask if I accept dogs in my hotel. Yes, I do: I find them to be the most gracious guests. I have never yet had a dog guest light a cigarette in the room, and set one of our beds on fire. I have never had a dog guest get drunk and throw up all over the room, after breaking everything inside. I have never had a dog guest get into such a contentious fight with his love partner that the police had to be called. Yes, I will say that your dog is a most welcome guest in our hotel. I would love to have him.

PS: You can come too, if your dog says you’re OK.

Why are dogs so loved by many people? Because they offer unconditional love; always wagging their tails and jumping when they see their human friend; always happy to see you, no matter what. We can learn valuable lessons on how to be loved by studying the natural charisma of a dog. Here are some personality characteristics of the dog we can apply in our own lives.

1. Project Interest Outside Yourself: Dogs are always interested in us, following us from room to room, constantly keeping their eye on what we’re doing. As humans, we often tend to be self-centered, always thinking about our own needs, how we are coming across. To be loved, we need to do a reversal: extend our loving energy outward. Become genuinely interested in other people; ask them questions about their lives, what their passions are, how you can be of service to them. When you do this, you will expand your focus from your small “me world” into a larger perspective of connection, compassion, and empathy. You will find that people will be more attracted to you, and interested in you, because you have entered their world with a desire to know more about them, and connect with them.

2. Live Daily with Enthusiasm: Dogs often have unrelenting enthusiasm; they want to play, they want to go outside with you; they want to jump, wag their tail, and bark. In our daily, stressful, and busy lives we often forget to play, to have fun--to laugh, to be spontaneous. Dogs are a good reminder that we need to get in touch with our playful, fun-loving sides. Tickle a friend, tell a joke on yourself, play a fun prank; go to a comedy show; play a childhood group game (remember “Simon says”) with your adult (or child) friends. When you do this, your face will become animated; you will smile more; you will look more attractive, regardless of your facial and body features. People will want to spend time with you because you are fun, interesting, and charming.

3. Do Something Nice For Others: Dogs have been known to bring slippers and newspapers for their human friends, lick them on the face when their human friend is sad, and cuddle up to them when they are lonely. In the same way, you can decide to do nice things for others--help a homeless person, listen to a hurting acquaintance, smile and pay compliments to others. The key is to be nice, without expecting anything in return--you don’t need them to like you or give you an equal benefit. What you will find is that the nicer you are to others, the nicer others will be to you. It may not be the person you are nice to who is nice back, but it could be someone else, whom you didn’t expect.

Now you have learned the 3 charisma characteristics of that marvelous species known as the dog. If you adopt these the personality traits as your own, you will learn the dog’s truth:

Be interested in others, and they will be interested in you.
Be playful, and attract fun and charm into your life.
Love others, and you will be loved.