I Have no Voice

I have no voice to ask for what I need.  I have no voice to tell you how I feel.  I have no voice to share my sad story; but if I did maybe I would reveal… 

My owners left me for one reason or another.  I only wanted to cuddle and play, I tried not to be a bother.  I am unable to say that I desperately want to live.  I want the chance to have a family; I have so much love to give. 

Many see me only as a number, filling up a crate and taking up resources; so I get a “sleep” date.  If I could talk I might tell you all these things and more.  I am God’s creature, put on earth for you to adore. 

What if it was you who needed my help; left without anything or anybody, possibly in poor health? 

I would never leave your side, I only know love.  I would not desert you or give you a shove. 

If you had no voice, you would still be treated kind.  Your family would not force you to leave because you couldn’t read their mind. 

Animals desperately need mankind’s caring to rely upon.  Maybe they are here to teach us how to truly get along. 

We can learn a lot from those who cannot speak.  Mostly we can learn how a living being we should treat. 

For those with no voice, I am happy to express what I know.  Open your heart, save a life and adopt your pets; let your love flow!

Technorati Tags: animal adoption, animal shelter, Animals, gina sendef, pet adoption, Pets, truth works

Instead utilise sms rather than making long phone calls on mobile phones and find other ways (such as internet telecommunications) to stay in touch with family and friends. Also by using conventional cooking methods you can help nature and yourself.

We will now include an excerpt from a nature journal to highlight the seriousness of the situation:

“According to a study, beekeepers reported an average loss of just over 36% of their colonies over winter, a figure up 13.5% from the previous year, and just over a third of all beekeepers reported losing one or more of their colonies to the condition named Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

Since 2006, their keepers have been reporting the sudden and unusual disappearance of large numbers of their bees. Virtually overnight, all the adult bees in a seemingly healthy hive disappear [...]

As critical pollinators of many of the foods we depend upon, healthy honeybee populations are essential to our food supply. About 130 different crops rely upon honeybee pollination. Some 30% of all the different types of nuts, fruits, and vegetables we consume.

Things we can do:

· Plant species native to your region in your yard and garden. These will provide abundant food for local bee populations.

· Grow a wide variety of plants with different colors, shapes, and flowering times. A diverse range of plants will attract an equally diverse range of bee species and give them plenty of food choices throughout the growing season.

· Stay away from hybrid and genetically modified plants, which often don”t produce any of the pollen that bees need to survive.

· Never use pesticides or herbicides of any kind. Though these poisons may be meant for plants and non-bee pests, they can often have a “spill-over” effect that harms innocent bystander species, bees among them. (Pesticides are also extremely unhealthy for us land-bound creatures, too!)

· Consider starting a hive and being a beekeeper by creating a nest for wood bees (which don”t sting!) by simply taking a non-treated block of wood, drilling holes 3/32 of an inch to 5/16 of an inch in diameter and about 5 inches deep, and leaving it out for bees to find. Traditional beekeeping also has many rewards, from a supply of homemade honey to assured garden pollination.”

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            Unfortunately, there is an abundance of Jack Russell Terriers, hounds and other dogs who are extremely active and require a lot of attention. These pets are a welcome addition to any family, but sometimes the owners of these pets do not do enough research on how much time these pups may need. Regular walks, an active lifestyle and loving owners are just a few of the requirements to own these great pets.

            In many cases, city animal shelters and humane societies are seeing an abundance of dogs that are active, such as the amount of Jack Russell terriers dropped off at their front door. It is becoming all too common that people are adopting these pets and not realizing the commitment you must give them. Therefore, these pets are dropped off at a shelter. These societies are overwhelmed with all animals, including these pets and it is harder for them to find potential active owners in the big city then in a suburban or rural area. Often times they spend long periods in these shelters and in worse case scenarios in some cities, are put down because of overcrowding.

            If you have any interest in getting a new pet for your family, do your research! Whether it is a hamster or a Jack Russell terrier, see what the needs are of the pet and make sure you are as good of a fit for that pet as that pet is a good fit for your family. If this is the case, take the time to check out humane societies or animal shelters. They have a lot of loving animals who could use a good home, and the shelters need to take in more animals, so the empty spot is also appreciated. So commit to the three R’s , RESEARCH, RELATE and RAISE a new pet into your family

Technorati Tags: animal shelters, Grace Ste.Croix, hounds, Humane Societies, Jack Russell terriers, raise, relate, research

Every time I roll out my mat to do my home practice, there he is…my best furry friend Tonka is always right there beside me, tail wagging with uncontrollable excitement as he circles around me, eager to participate. And as I begin to move through my practice, his excitement turns to calm and he always ends up flopped down at the top of my mat staring at me with his big brown puppy dog eyes. It’s as if he has begun to tap into the energy of my practice…my sense of calm and centeredness becomes his sense of calm. When I think about it, this makes total sense. Animals are very sensitive to our energies and can feel when we are relaxed and at peace. And since our pets are some of the most important friends in our lives, why not begin to include them in our yoga practice and let them enjoy the benefits too?

Yoga is about connection. The word yoga means to unite, and so when we do our practice with our pets we can think of it as creating a deeper bond or connection with them. Unlike a typical yoga practice where you are focusing on your breath and alignment, doga is a more of an organic practice where you can feel free to move around the dog as you don’t have to feel that you are perfectly aligned. Modifications are welcomed and often necessary depending on the size and energy level of your dog. It is not so much the pose as it is the connection that counts.

Try this simple doga practice to show your love and deepen your connection to your dog:

1. Find a comfortable cross-legged seat on your mat with eyes closed and hands together at your heart.
2. Allow yourself to breathe slowly and deeply…your dog will probably naturally come to rest near you
3. Encourage your dog to lie down on the mat in front of you so you can begin to fold over them finding a nice stretch for your hips and giving your pet some love and gentle rubs
4. Eventually come in to table position, knees hip width apart and shoulders over wrists with your pet lying on the mat under your belly.
5. Move through three to five rounds of cat and cow, alternately lowering the belly and lifting the heart and sits bones before you press into the hands and round out through the spine in a cat stretch.
6. Curl your toes under and press into the hands to lift the hips and come into downward facing dog (ironic, I know), perhaps resting your head on your dog, depending on the size. Stay for five breaths.
7. Slowly walk your feet towards your hands where you will eventually end up in a gentle forward fold. Give your pooch some love as you pet them, maybe giving a gentle massage
8. Bend your knees to come into a bit of a squat with feet hip width apart and place your hands under their shoulders (you should both be facing the same way).
9. Lift your dogs two front paws off the mat and press into your heels so you can lift them up to standing (bend the knees more with larger dogs to protect your low back). Their front legs will be lifted as their hind legs connect them to the mat. This is butterfly pose for your pooch…try staying for five breaths before you gently lower them down.
10. Give your dog lots of love and rubs before repeating the entire sequence. Let them feel you breath deeply and enjoy the sense of calm that connects you both.

Doga is a practice of connection…first we connect to our dogs, but as we bond with our furry friends, the unconditional love we receive in return eventually shows us how to connect back in to the best parts of ourselves. Really, what more could you ask for?

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Adrienne Kelly-Durys

Adrienne Kelly-Durys is a Certified Nutritional Practitioner, 500Hr RYT and lover of feeling good in mind and body. She teaches Yoga and wellness classes at Balanced Life Yoga and specializes in detoxing and nourishment. Classes include Power Hour Yoga, Power Yoga Vibe, and Holistic Nutritional Consulting.

7 days ago I made one of the hardest decisions of my life.

A decision made for love, but a choice that really seemed to be set up to take love away from me.

7 days ago, I helped my best friend of 17-years, my heart companion, my soul dog, die.

She wasn’t sick. Just old.

Her body no longer worked the way it needed for her to

Be the vibrant, jubilant, beautiful being she had always been.

And although I didn’t know it at the time, inside I became very afraid that Love was going to leave me… again.

Love had certainly felt like it had left before – when my father died, when my engagement ended abruptly, and in the times previous best friends became people I no longer talked to.

Through my previous experiences with love and loss, I had come to believe that when people leave, so does the love. Which has also caused me to believe that as humans, we will do most anything to avoid feeling the pain associated with feeling the loss of love. Or sometimes we will do everything to run straight into and sit in the pain, suffering to make ourselves feel alive and connected to the one that has left.

As I made the choice this time around to let someone I love go, what I found were two beliefs around love and loss – one that served me and one – a love lie — that just caused me great suffering, that I thought we all could benefit from getting to the real truth.

LOVE BELIEF

The thought of losing love is one of the scariest things we face as human beings.

This is true.

LOVE LIE

When a relationship ends or a person leaves our lives, the love dies. The love leaves with them.

This is totally false.

It is true that if you input a belief into your mind that tells you “Love is gone! Love has been taken away!” you will feel pain, excruciating suffering kind of pain.

Because just like we need air to breathe, we need love to live.

Anyone who has had the experience of losing someone they love deeply can attest to feeling like the wind was knocked out of them, because it was.

Technorati Tags: Christine Arylo, Pets, Relationships, self love

My family has just welcomed a new addition into our fold, Max the mixed breed puppy.  This is the second four legged friend I have been blessed with raising in my life so far.  Our last dog, Norman the beagle, passed last summer after almost 15 years of mostly unconditional love and companionship (beagles can bea little  particular with their affection).  We finally decided to adopt because we just missed having a dog in our family way too much.

Immediately, I started noticing differences in our puppy parenting style.  When my husband and I first got Norman, we were newly married, wrapped up in our careers, completely un-awakened and totally oblivious to the obvious mistakes we were making with our self centered ways.  Now, however, we have been parents of human kids for over 12 years and currently have 3 of those; so our patience level has increased approximately 10,000 times.  I have been a proponent of conscious parenting for a long time but this carefree little canine is teaching this old dog some new, or maybe just forgotten, tricks. 

You see, with dogs, their reactions to our energy and their environment are immediate and very hard to ignore.  I thought I had a handle on the atmosphere of our home and the vibe of our family, until Max came along.  Soon, I realized we had become a bit complacent, settling for less than calmness and serenity.  In a 3200 square foot house with 5 people, there is loudness; not in anger but just out of the need to communicate.  I guess the members of our pack had gotten accustomed to this terrible habit of shouting, but Max has shown us the error of those ways and many more. 

Lesson one:  Raised voices, for ANY reason, and puppies do not mix.  That behavior changes the energy of the surroundings and a dog will react with a myriad of unpleasant actions like peeing, barking, digging, and chewing just to name a few.  My kids were not responding with any unusual behavior because they had become part of the problem.  My family took note quickly and we are working on our tone with each other, trying to be more quiet, peaceful and respectful of our baby doggy (as my 6 year old calls him). 

That was just the tip of the dysfunctional ice berg that I did not see until we were near a Titanic type situation.  It became abundantly clear to all of us that puppies need attention; let me rephrase that, puppies need incredible amounts of endless attention and will seek to get it however they can. 

Lesson two:  only give attention to the positive behavior or you risk reinforcing the negative.  Of course, this came easily to me as I had been using the technique with my own kids successfully; or so I thought.  A repeated problem recently came up with my pre-teen daughter for a 3^rd time, so instead of my usual course of long discussions and relinquishing of privileges; I thought I’d give the old ignore the negative behavior trick a try.  She did receive a minor punishment that fit the crime and no further attention was given to the matter.  She now happily rings a bell whenever she has to pee; oh wait, that’s the dog.  The other side of the attention coin is making sure the positive behavior is not only rewarded, but celebrated and met with more interest than the negative.  Sounds simple, but Max has made it apparent that our family is slightly self centered on their own interests (for example, he just tried to chew a pillow while I’m writing this).

Like children, puppies get cranky when they are tired.  Lesson three:  personal space is needed for quiet time.  Just like a tantrum, you cannot allow a dog to terrorize your family with crazy energy that has no rhyme or reason.  Therefore, it’s important to give them a quiet time just like people sometimes need.  When my kids become moody or unruly, I simply send them in their rooms to settle down (when they were toddlers we called it a time out).  In fact, Max is having a time out as I write and has calmed down within 5 minutes without me having to follow him around saying NO every 3 seconds because of his crazed outburst.  Once the fit is over, parents must sit and comfort their kids (or puppies); love and affection always goes a long way and the kisses (or licks) we receive are their own reward for our patience.

Every day Max shows us what we need to improve.  They say kids are a reflection of their parents and, while that is totally true, I’m finding that our puppy is an instant expression of our energy complete with undeniable signals.  He has made our family uber aware and is teaching my kids direct lessons about being connected to other living beings and we are so grateful for it.  He’s our personal energy-ometer and I’m hopeful that the forecast will remain much sunnier with him around.

If you are interested in more information about Conscious Parenting of the human variety, please visit my website and take a look at my book, “Truth Works, Divine Life Lessons for Kids of All Ages”.  You can read a sample chapter and pre-order your copy at www.ginasendef.com.

Technorati Tags: children, conscious parenting, dog training, dogs, family, gina sendef, kids, parenting, Pets, puppies, truth works

Twenty years ago, when my three year old daughter christened our tortoise Goldilocks, I always thought it was a very odd name for a beast with no visible hair on her gnarly body, blonde or not. Twenty years on, her appellation seems highly appropriate after all.

I failed to see what perhaps my daughter perceived that Goldilocks shares her namesake’s sense of entitlement. When the ‘real’ Goldilocks comes upon the cottage in the woods, she helps herself to whatever she finds. Not content to enjoy the amenities, she has the pluck to be fussy about everything she finds: one bed is too hard, one is too soft. As if everything exists for her pleasure, she never considers who it belongs to, that she might be imposing, doesn’t feel remorse after eating their porridge or breaking their furniture or feel the least bit grateful. Perhaps Goldilocks and the Three Bears can be seen as a way of teaching children how to be a better guest.

When Goldilocks (the turtle) is hungry, she rouses herself from the box where she sleeps and clatters into the kitchen. Especially when she detects cooking smells, she cranes her neck expectantly. More often than not, a chunk of curried beef, a raw shrimp (shelled and cut up) or a piece of mango drops in front of her. She eats (imagine a steam shovel tearing away at a piece of meat the size of a car), she defecates, and then returns to her box. To me, it feels like she has an expectation that tasty snacks fall from the sky when she is hungry…and she’s usually right. Any acknowledgement (apart from emptying her bowels), appreciation or gratitude is not part of this equation.

I chuckled at my turtle’s apparent sense of entitlement. I told my friends about her but then I began to notice that her attitude isn’t that unique. My teenage children appear when they are hungry, snacks materialize in front of them, they eat, and they leave, all with a disturbing lack of appreciation or gratitude. Could it be contagious? Is there something I’m doing wrong?

I have since dubbed this extreme form of entitlement, the Goldilocks Syndrome. I notice it at work and in many aspects of my life. I see it in beggars, princes’ and princesses, in General Motors and in those who expect something for nothing. My teenagers will grow out of it as they mature and learn that stuff doesn’t just fall from the sky. Like many of us, they become more grateful and appreciative as they learn how to fend for themselves. As for Goldilocks, there isn’t much I can do but toss her a chunk of mango once in a while and hope that food appears when she needs it.

Technorati Tags: appreciation, curry, entitlement, food, goldilocks, grateful, gratitude, happy, manna

         Twenty years ago, small dogs were much rarer in homes. The German Sheppard or Golden Retriever was a staple in a suburban house, but as more people in the city have an apartment style living, a compact pet is perfect for a small space in the sky. As medical releases show, many small dogs (primarily of the terrier breed) are hypo allergenic, which means that their fur does not disturb our sensitive allergies. No shedding means no hair to clean up and a lot less sniffles in your house!

         Etiquette for the small dog differs from the big dog greatly. Whereas in a big dog’s home, it would be completely taboo for your plus sized pooch to jump on your guests as they enter the door, sit on your couches and chairs, or even beg and receive food from the table. Many small dogs get away with such rules, and are coddled and babied for doing so. Big dogs would definitely be scolded.

         If a big dog was at a dog park and nipped another dog, chances are the dog’s owner would hear a scolding or in more extreme cases be sued. Small dogs’ fiery personalities have led them to incidences of  nipping other dogs and most of the time it is disregarded. The small dogs are more likely to bite because they are fearful of being bullied, stepped on, or pushed around by the bigger pets. When one dog knocks down a big dog it will not do the same internal damage as a pint sized pet being thrown for a loop at the local dog park.

         Small dogs are able to see more of the world! If you’re a traveler, many posh hotels don’t mind a cute little Yorkie being carried into their 5 star hotels then a big Doberman. Small dogs are accepted at a few restaurants, cafes and even shopping malls. Whereas the only bigger dog you would see in these places would be a working police dog or a seeing eye assistant.

         Small dogs are easier to groom, require less food but the same amount of love. As small dog owners, we should exercise discipline. Whatever behavior we would not tolerate from a big dog should be the same as what we will deny a small dog. We must also keep a special eye on our defiant leapers. A big dog taking a spill would be a small measure compared to the hospitalization or even death of a tiny pup taking a gigantic leap. Proper training is essential to keep our tiny companions safe.

         Our special little friends are an amazing addition to every family. As long as they’re trained and protected from potential harm to their fragile bodies, small dogs are unique, incredibly loyal, and wonderful pets. Enjoy your miniature guardian, loyal companion and adorable newest addition to your family!

Technorati Tags: dog training, Grace Ste.Croix, Pets, small dogs, terriers

There is actually no need to wash bunnies, as they are pretty good at grooming and keeping themselves clean.  However, there are obviously occasions when our bunnies, especially white ones can get pretty dirty and we may have to come to their rescue.

If you wish to help our bunnies a little with staying clean, you may soak the facecloth in warm water, squeeze it out and just gently wash the areas that are dirty.

However, if you really want to give your bunny a little bath, it should be OK to do so, as long as you are gentle and bunnies don’t get scared by the experience.  Remember, bunnies are fragile and can get worked up quite easily, so the experience has to be as calm and smooth smooth as possible.

Make sure there are no drafts in the area and the room temperature is comfortably warm.  Get a little Rubber-made tub.  If you don’t have a shower head that is attached to a long hose than get a separate large container as well.  Fill Rubber-made tub with enough luke warm water so that it will reach up to bunny’s shoulders.  Place the Rubber-made tub into your bath tub, than put some baby no-tears shampoo or special pet shampoo and swoosh it around so it dissolves in water and creates some bubbles.  Don’t make it too bubbly.

Fill the other container with clean water that is warmer than water that is in the Rubber-made tub, because it will have to stand there for a a little while.  Get your bunny, put one hand on the chest under the arms and with the other hand support the bum and the feet, than gently lower bunny into water.  Make sure the water is not too cold, but also not too hot.

Talk calmly, softly and gently to your bunny while you are doing this.  “That’s a good boy/girl!”,  “Isn’t this nice!”,  “Yes, what a good bunny!”, etc.  Gently rub with your fingers/hands any areas that need to be cleaned while they are submerged under water, scoop some water in your capped hand and pour over the areas of the body that are not submerged in water.  Always support your bunny with one hand and be prepared that it may try to escape.   Also be prepared to get wet ☺  Your bunny may try to stand up on the hind legs.  That’s OK, you can still pour water over it with your scooped hand or a small cup.

Make sure you don’t pour water over it’s head, eyes and ears.  For that you will need a little face cloth.  Wet it, than squeeze the excess water out and gently move it over the top of the head, cheeks and under the chin starting at the front towards the back.  Do this only if it’s really needed.  Make sure you start far away from the eyes and watch that no water drops or rolls down in the eyes.  You may even place either your hand or another rolled up facecloth just above the eyes to stop the water from getting in.  Don’t wash the ears and make sure no water gets in them to avoid any infection later on.  Also keep watching that bunny doesn’t get water in it’s nose and mouth.  I really wouldn’t do the head unless absolutely necessary.

When done washing with shampoo, lift bunny a little with one hand, holding it under the chest, tilt the container and let the soapy water run out.  Place bunny down again and with the other container that has clean water in it pour it gently and slowly over the body making sure you don’t get the eyes and ears.  Remember to keep talking to your bunny in a calm gentle voice.

When done, lift bunny with one hand and with the other gently squish the water out of it’s body, arms, legs and tail.  Wrap them in a towel and gently rub them dry.  Than wrap them in another, dry towel and just sit with them for a while petting them and talking gently, so that they may relax and get dry, so that they would avoid catching a cold from any drafts.

Now, no one knows your bunny’s personality better than you.  So you would be the one who will need to decide whether your bunny is ready for a bath or not.  Some bunnies are very laid back and will not struggle at all.  In this case just make sure you keep them relaxed throughout the procedure.  However, some bunnies may be “fighters”.  You many have to hold them a little firmer at first until they calm down, but making sure you are not hurting them.  However, if you see them getting really scared and excited, I would not go through with this, as you don’t want to risk scaring them too much.  Always keep in mind, bunnies scare easily and have fragile hearts.  Their safety should always be your number one priority.

The same bathing technique can be used on cats, small dogs and other small pets like guinea pigs, etc.

Good luck!

Technorati Tags: animal care, animal communication, Animal Empathy, bathing a pet, bunnies, bunny, clean bunny, clean pets, healing pets, Milana Vinokur, pet care, pet cleanliness, pet health, small pets, www.milana.me, www.mivida.me

In my 42 years, I have experienced loss – the loss of grandparents, 2 uncles and a really good friend but none has filled me with more grief than when I lost my best friend and pet, Freddy.

Jason, my partner and I became proud parents of Freddy on November 21, 2000.  It was wonderful when our neighbor knocked on our door to present us with our new family member.  The first few weeks proved to be tough and we had to make some adjustments to our schedules to ensure Freddy’s comfort.  Jason would come home for lunch just so that Freddy’s transition to his new home would not be too frightening.  During this quick lunch hour, Freddy would simply curl up on Jason’s chest and soaked up all the love and warmth that Jason gave.  I would take alternate shifts at work so that one of us would always be home with him.   Vacations revolved around Freddy – we always decided where we would go and stay based on where we thought Freddy would feel most comfortable and safe.  Jason and I were more than happy to make these lifestyle adjustments in order to provide Freddy with the best life possible.  

Freddy allowed me to become more conscientious of our non-human friends and really became a deciding factor on my becoming a vegetarian.  He was my pet but he was able to learn, to love and to feel.  Why did it take me this long to understand that pigs, cows, fish and all other animals could do the same?  Because of Freddy, I became more aware of what I ate, where I shopped, which companies conducted animal testing etc.  I believe caring for  Freddy sparked my conscious awareness and my spiritual journey.

Freddy was generally a happy dog – once you got to know him.  He was very protective of Jason and I and would sometimes challenge our friends if they entered our personal space.  Freddy would also warn Jason or myself if we got to close to each other.  There were times when Freddy would intentionally sit in-between Jason and I to ensure we did not get too close.  We called him ‘The Warden’, it was a nickname that made us laugh every time we used it.

We did endure some scary moments such as; Freddy going on a solo, unsupervised walk at a campground we belonged to, running into an elevator with his leash still attached – I was on the outside of the elevator and Freddy on the inside (Freddy and I both had to seek post-traumatic counseling after that incident) and running after me as I drove away to work one winter morning in my car.  Jason decided to go to Mexico for a week with friends – that entire week Freddy stood vigilant facing the apartment door waiting for his return.  I created a temporary bedroom in the living room to keep Freddy company and to ensure he ate his food during this week.  No matter what happened, Freddy always came through.

Early in November of 2010, Freddy began experiencing severe coughing fits that became more frequent as the days passed.  We brought him to our veterinarian and were told that Freddy had an enlarged heart and that he would not be with us for much longer.  The veterinarian also indicated that he needed to start medication to help clear his lungs of fluid.  This helped briefly but the attacks continued and we brought him in again.  We saw another one of the veterinarians in the office and she indicated that he was far worse than the first diagnosis and that we had to talk about euthanizing him – we were shocked and asked if the diagnosis caused him any pain.  She said yes.  Jason and I decided we would not let Freddy endure any further pain and would let him go the following weekend.  We also decided to have the veterinarian do the procedure in our home to ensure Freddy’s comfort – those were our plans, Freddy’s plans were different.

On the night of Wednesday November 19th, 2010 – Freddy seemed to be having continuous coughing attacks with little breaks in-between them.  Every time he looked up at us, his beautiful brown eyes seemed to be pleading to us for help.  It was heart-breaking.  I hardly slept that night due to the anxiety I felt surrounding Freddy’s illness and it was reflected in my dreams.  That night I dreamed I was visiting family – the surroundings were familiar and friendly until one of my sisters started yelling “something happened to Freddy”.  She brought him over to me and laid him on a table.  When I picked him up his body deflated and he lifted his head and looked at me with those big brown pleading eyes that suggested it was time for him to go home.  I woke up with tears streaming down my face and leaned over and woke Jason up.  I told him about my dream and explained that I believed that this was Freddy’s way of communicating his wishes to me.  

The following day was to be Freddy’s day.  He would have his favorite food (pizza) and we invited his favorite ‘uncle’ over to say goodbye.  It was our final night with our wonderful precious dog. 

Saturday November 21, 2010 was the roughest day of my life and Jason’s.  We took Freddy for a long walk on the beach and gave him a hamburger to eat.  We communicated words of love and that we would all be together again someday but most importantly, we ensured Freddy that he would not be uncomfortable anymore.  You can not prepare yourself for a moment like this, you know it is going to happen, you know it will hurt but you just don’t know how much it will hurt.  We said goodbye to Freddy exactly 10 years from his birth.  The irony of Freddy’s passing was that Jason and I always knew that Freddy had a big heart, we just did not know that it would lead to his death.

Freddy’s legacy lives on in his son Bradley who just celebrated his 6th birthday.  All of the lessons that Freddy taught me – lessons of patience, love, overcoming grief and respecting all living creatures are lessons I will carry with me until it is time for me to go home.

Technorati Tags: best friends, dog, grief, lessons, loss of a pet, Pets