Benny’s Dog Blog :: Kapha Dosha
Hello Humans,
Yes, it’s me again, Benny, your irrepressible dog-blogger with more inside information and pearls of doggy wisdom you need to know regarding your canine companions.
My last blog introduced you to how Ayurvedic principles apply not only to you guys but also to us dogs. I shared with you the concept that a dosha (mind body type) defines the individual and, of course, I first told you all about my dosha, the superior dosha, the top dosha, PITTA!!
Us Pittas are the intelligent, active, fiery types (Editor’s note: A little bias there Benny?) but I am told by my Mom that there is room in the world for other character types so I had better mention them, however briefly, or I will be in real trouble.
LEARN YOUR DOG'S DOSHA HERE — Take Our Free Dog Dosha Quiz
So here we go with the Kapha dosha. This, in my opinion, is almost the opposite to us Pittas. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get along; in fact my best dog-friend and brother-from-another-mother, Graham is a Kapha dog and we balance each other out perfectly well.
Kapha dogs tend to be the larger, heavyset types, you know, slowish and… chubby (Benny !!), sorry, solid. They’re only chubby when out of balance, actually. They just tend to be, as you humans would say, “big-boned.”
To be fair, Kapha dogs have a number of attributes that humans find really charming. Instead of always looking for things to do and new challenges, the traits of Pittas that some of you find exhausting, the Kapha dog is easy going and patient. Since Kapha is mostly made up of the earth element, they mostly like to serve. That’s their purpose. That’s different from us Pittas who want a job! Kapha dogs are comfortable with a fixed and not necessarily challenging routine in their life which makes them easy to live with. They’re also very calm, loyal, faithful and loving, and admittedly, less high maintenance than us Pittas. Kaphas make great service animals and usually get along great in a house with children and other pets. Patience is their virtue. You should see my big dog-brother Graham put up with my shenanigans!
There are two sides to every dog biscuit so a few things to watch out for with these Kaphas – or else they’d be the perfect dog! Their love of a fixed routine can be a bit dull, so it’s a good idea to occasionally challenge them with new sights, sounds and experiences. This is good for them and for you, their human partner. This love of routine can also lead to a tendency to overeat and to put on weight (hence my chubby comment.) You could always leave it to your local Pittas to give them the run-around, then again, perhaps not.
So there you are. I accept my mother’s advice that there is room for more than one dosha type in the dog world. In fact I can imagine that this place would be absolute chaos if it were inhabited only by fiery Pittas, someone needs to be stable and grounded and that, I guess you could say, is the role of the Kapha.
So, it’s time to return to the pack here in Vista and do a bit of Dosha analysis on my brothers and sister, should be fun.
From my pack to yours.
Benny
P.S. Have just been reminded by Mom that there is yet a third dosha — Vata. Who would have thought it? She'll probably now ask for my views on this in my next blog. The demands!