I am thankful we have a day that is just made for pausing for a minute and concentrating on all the things we all have to be thankful for. So corney as it is, I want to list a few of those things ;-). Since this is my dog blog, I of course am concentrating a little heavier on my list that involves my puppers.
I am thankful for my family of course-my kids are people I am very proud of and I am so lucky they are in my life.
I am thankful for my puppy dogs, they are always there to cuddle and they have helped me learn how to more effectively communicate with other people-the ideas behind clicker training and motivation can work in a lot of ways and don't just work for dogs... Mostly they have taught me a lot about myself-soooo much about myself and that is probably the biggest thing they have given me. What ever we will ever achieve in any competition is such a small thing when you look at all we have achieved already in the more important things, learning about how to effectively communicate, learning about love, learning about patience, learning about how to overcome frustration, learning about prioritizing, how many lessons have I learned from my little fur babies? No blue ribbon could compare with those type of presents.
SKYLER-My tri-colored sheltie is my oldest doggie at 7 yrs old. I got him at about 6 months old, he had parvo as a tiny pup and no one wanted him because of that. I think he came from a dad that was a very fearful dog and then having parvo treatment, needles, and being hospitalized at a very critical time in his socialization left him with a lot of issues. I always was so touched by his willingness to trust me enough to try, and to go along with my reactive dog training, and he has made a ton of progress. He really taught me tons about patience. Lately he has gone through a lot of health issues, but he is on the mend and looking a 100% better, so in a few months I think he will be back to his old self.
CHLOE-What a happy little sable sheltie, she has taught me a whole lot about training and patience because she is a soft, sensitive, little doggie so of course I had to consider a lot of that when we were training, so she is my dog that has taught me sooooo much about motivation.
LIZZIE-she came to me as a pup. She was older and had not found a home, maybe because she was so wild, LOL. SHE HAS TAUGHT ME ABOUT TRAINING, motivation and consistency, LOL, and most importantly taught me how to Laugh, to laugh at life and not take things too seriously and to laugh at myself. She has also taught me not to get so overwhelmed looking at all there is to do and to just keep chipping away and enjoy the journey and before you know it....one day you look around and see how far things have come. She is my dog that made me a real trainer.
BREEZIE-who has so much heart and who will try for me no matter what she is feeling. She loves agility so much that she will work through what ever-she has taught me about not letting things get you down. What a fun dog she is.
CRICKET-newest little puppers who so far is just given me a few days of seeing the world through a puppies eyes. She cuddles and everything makes her excited. My whole goal for Crickie is going to be to not stress, and to enjoy her puppy hood, to trust I know how to train and to raise a puppy, so just to have fun with her and not worry about trying to raise her perfectly.
I am truly thankful that I have met so many people through my dogs that have been so kind and helpful to me. THANKS so much to all my blogger friends who are always there to lend support, and to remind me that my challenges are not unique, and in seeing their successes they remind me that all things are possible.