Category: Animal rescue

And we save dogs!

Only right that we save dogs as well.

(I couldn’t have asked for a better post to follow yesterday’s post on dogs saving us.)

As seen on the Lady Freethinker’s site.

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Tiny Dog Rescued from Mexico Rubble 6 Days After Quake

Posted by Nina Jackel | September 26, 2017

Six days after Mexico City was ravaged by an earthquake, there seemed little hope of finding anyone alive among the rubble.

But a Japanese rescue team was thrilled to find one more tiny survivor — a schnauzer, who they managed to pull from the ruins of a collapsed apartment building.

The lucky dog was checked out by vets, and had somehow managed to remain in good health. Authorities now hope to reunite the schnauzer with her family as soon as possible.

Thank you to rescuers who travelled from around the world to save lives — both human and animal — in the wake of this tragic disaster.

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The video and news item was carried by the New York Post and for reasons I am unsure about I couldn’t include the video in this post. But you can view that video by going here. Luckily other newspapers carried the wonderful event and the following photograph appeared in The Independent newspaper two days ago.

A schnauzer dog who survived the quake is pulled out of the rubble from a flattened building by rescuers in Mexico City 24 September. ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images

My guess is that dogs and humans have been saving each other for thousands of years and long may it continue.

Ghosts.

An emotional post that is potentially upsetting to readers. Especially English readers.

Yesterday, September 14th, saw the opening of the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire that happened on June 14th. As the BBC News reported:

The inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire has opened, with its chairman promising it will provide answers to how the disaster could have happened in 21st century London.

Sir Martin Moore-Bick said he would not shrink away from making recommendations that could lead to prosecutions.

Yesterday morning, I woke at 5am PDT (1pm UK time) and picked up my tablet that has a BBC Radio 4 app installed. I lay there in the dark, Jeannie still fast asleep alongside me, and listened to the World at One: Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Martha Kearney. Naturally the opening stages of the inquiry were one of the main items covered.

I was born in London. At the maternity ward at the hospital in Park Royal, West London. Some 5 miles from Grenfell Tower. I was brought up in Wembley, London again some 5 miles straight line distance from the tower.

For much of my early life as a young adult I was in and around that part of London. So while I was not personally familiar with Grenfell Tower itself, the news coverage of the disaster at the time relayed sights of a part of London that seemed like an old friend from the past.

A ghost of my life from over 50 years ago.

Yesterday on the World at One Martha Kearney interviewed Kareem Dennis better known as the rapper Lowkey:

Lowkey: A song for Grenfell, a call for justice

Hip Hop artist Lowkey lives opposite Grenfell tower. He has written a song called Ghosts of Grenfell, featuring people from the local community, which demands justice for those who died.

Lowkey told the World at One about his song and the night of the fire.

(Photo: Lowkey. Credit: BBC)

The interview included snippets of Lowkey’s song.

After I had finished listening to the World at One I did a web search to learn more about the poor animals that lost their lives in the inferno. It broke my heart reading the stories.

Then I started watching the full video of Lowkey’s song: Ghosts of Grenfell. Sixty seconds into the song I could hold my emotions no longer and burst into deep sobs.

Here is Lowkey’s song.

For those that want to stay with this, then here are the lyrics to Ghosts of Grenfell.

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Ghosts of Grenfell

Lowkey
Featuring Mai Khalil

Produced by Jo Caleb and Quincy Tones

[Intro: Lowkey]
The night our eyes changed
Rooms where, love was made and un-made in a flash of the night
Rooms where, memories drowned in fumes of poison
Rooms where, futures were planned and the imagination of children built castles in the sky
Rooms where, both the extraordinary and the mundane were lived
Become forever tortured graves of ash
Oh you political class, so serve out to corporate power

[Chorus: Mai Khalil & Lowkey]
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, for us?
Ghosts of Grenfell still calling for justice
Now hear ’em, now hear ’em scream
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, for us?
This corporate manslaughter will haunt you
Now hear ’em scream
[Verse 1: Lowkey]
Words can not express
Please allow me to begin though
1:30am heard the shouting from my window
People crying in the street
Watchin’ the burning of their kinfolk
Grenfell Tower, now historically a symbol
People reaching, from their windows
Screaming, for their lives
Pleading, with the cries
Tryna reason with the skies
Dale youth birthed champions
Comparison is clear though
That every single person in the building was a hero
So don’t judge our tired eyes in these trying times
‘Cause we be breathing in cyanide, the entire night
They say Yasin saw the fire and he ran inside
Who’d thought that would be the site where he and his family died
The street is like a graveyard, tombstones lurching over us
Those shouting out to their windows, now wish they never woke them up
Wouldn’t hope your worst enemy to go in this position
Now it’s flowers for the dead and printed posters for the missing, come home
[Chorus: Mai Khalil & Lowkey]
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, for us?
Ghosts of Grenfell still calling for justice
Now hear ’em, now hear ’em scream
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, for us?
This corporate manslaughter will haunt you
Now hear ’em scream

[Verse 2: Lowkey]
I see trauma in the faces of all those that witnessed this
Innocence in the faces of all those on the missing list
See hopes unfulfilled
Ambitions never achieved
No I’m not the only one that sees the dead in my dreams
Strive for the bravery of Yasin, artistic gift of Khadija
Every person, a unique blessing to never be repeated
Strive for the loyalty of siblings that stayed behind with their parents
Pray that every loved one lost can somehow make an appearance
We are, calling like the last conversations with their dearest
Until we face, what they face we will never know what fear is
We are, calling for survivors rehoused in the best place
Not to be left sleeping in the West Way for 10 days
We’re, calling for arrests made and debts paid
In true numbers known for the families that kept faith
We’re, calling for safety in homes of love
They are immortalised forever, the only ghosts are us
I wonder
[Chorus: Mai Khalil & Lowkey]
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, for us?
Ghosts of Grenfell still calling for justice
Now hear ’em, now hear ’em scream
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, or us?
Did they die, for us?
This corporate manslaughter will haunt you
Now hear ’em scream

[Bridge: Mai Khalil (Arabic)]
Olooli win arooh
Nas a’am tehtere’a fe sa’at sahoor
Ahess ennee be alam tanee
Ahess ennee be alam tanee
Olooli win arooh
Nas a’am tehtere’a fe sa’at sahoor
Ahess ennee be alam tanee
Ahess ennee be alam tanee

[Speech: Lowkey & Various Voices]
To whom it may concern, at the Queen’s royal borough of Kensington in Chelsea. Where is Yasin El-Wahabi? Where is his brother Mehdi? Where is his sister Nur Huda? Where is their mother and where is their father? Where is Nura Jamal and her husband Hashim? Where is their children, Yahya, Firdaus and Yaqoob? Where is Nadia Loureda? Where is Steve Power? Where is Dennis Murphy? Where is Marco Gottardi? Where is Gloria Trevisian? Where is Amal and her daughter Amaya? Where is Mohammed Neda? Where is Ali Yawar Jafari? Where is Khadija Saye? Where is Mary Mendy? Where is Mariem Elgwahry? Where is her mother Suhar?

Tell us, where is Rania Ibrahim and her two daughters? Where is Jessica Urbano Remierez? Where is Deborah Lamprell? Where is Mohammed Alhajali? Where is Nadia? Where is her husband Bassem? Where are her daughters, Mirna, Fatima, Zaina and their grandmother? Where is Zainab Dean and her son Jeremiah? Where is Ligaya Moore? Where is Sheila Smith? Where is Mohammednour Tuccu? Where is Tony Disson? Where is Maria Burton? Where is Fathaya Alsanousi? Where is her son Abu Feras and her daughter Esra Ibrahim? Where is Lucas James? Where is Farah Hamdan? Where is Omar Belkadi? Where is their daughter Leena? Where is Hamid Kani? Where is Esham Rahman? Where is Raymond Bernard? Where is Isaac Paulos? Where is Marjorie Vital? Where’s her son Ernie? Where is Komru Miah? Where is his wife Razia? Where are their children Abdul Hanif, Abdul Hamid, Hosna? Where are Sakineh and Fatima Afraseiabi? Where is Berkti Haftom and her son Biruk?

Tells us, where is Stefan Anthony Mills? Where is Abdul Salam? Where is Khadija Khalloufi? Where is Karen Bernard? Where are these people? Where are these people? Where is Gary Maunders? Where is Rohima Ali? Where is her six year old daughter Maryam, her five year old daughter Hafizah and her three year old son Mohammed? God bless you all! Where are all these people?

[Outro]
Where are all these people?
The blood is on your hands
There will be ashes on your graves
Like a Phoenix we will rise
The blood is on your hands
There will be ashes on your graves
Like a Phoenix we will rise

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Back home again

And it feels so good!

Jean and I were invited to Chicago this last weekend, actually Friday through Sunday, to support a charity that does a great deal of work saving dogs in many countries. (Will write more about this great charity soon.)

So we flew out, via San Francisco, from our local Medford airport last Thursday returning on Monday. The long week-end was not without a few challenges!!

I hadn’t been back to Chicago in nearly 30 years and found it a bit of a shock to the system.

So going to leave you for today with two photographs of the other side of city life!

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Back to normal soon!

Love and caring.

“It is a time for kindness, love, community and human spirit to connect with nature.”

This sentence was written by Colette who blogs over at Stargazing Futures. Colette offered that thought in a response to a post last week in this place.

The reason I used it as the sub-heading for today’s share is that it is perfect.

Read this from Mother Nature News and you will understand.

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Watch an excavator gently rescue a deer

Russell McLendon   September 5, 2017

When two young black-tailed deer wandered onto a construction site in 2016, they probably didn’t realize how dangerously muddy the ground had become. They both got stuck in the mud, a predicament that could have easily been fatal — if an observant worker at the site hadn’t noticed them and swung into action.

“I wouldn’t have seen them if they hadn’t moved and caught my eye!” wrote Bill Davis, a native of Tacoma, Washington, who was checking on the property for his employer.

When he realized the two yearling deer were stuck, he “orchestrated a rescue operation with his cellphone,” his son-in-law told GrindTV, by contacting a skilled excavator operator who might be able to pluck the helpless deer out of the mud.

Using an uncannily light touch for such a powerful piece of machinery, the operator managed to rescue both deer from the mud. Davis posted one of the rescues in the video above; the actual scooping up of the deer starts at about the 2:30 point.

Of course, it might have been even better for these deer if the property was still forest, not a muddy construction site, and it’s worth noting that habitat loss is one of the main problems facing wildlife around the world. But that was a moot point by the time these deer got stuck, and since Davis couldn’t return their lost patch of habitat, he did the next best thing by making sure they survived this ordeal.

Plus, as Earth Touch News points out, these deer were thought to be yearlings at the time, so they may have already been old enough to rebound afterward.

Davis wasn’t taking any chances, though. “Didn’t sleep much last night [after the rescue],” he wrote on Facebook. “[A]ll I could think about was those little guys getting stuck again, and not finding mama! I’m out there looking to make sure the babies didn’t come back to the mud! No sign of them.”

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“It is a time for kindness, love, community and human spirit to connect with nature.”

Exactly!

Visiting the Vet – Ruby’s Urine Culture

At last we have the details.

On September 1st, I published an update on Ruby’s condition with regard to her UTI. This was because Ruby had had a re-occurrence of blood in her urine. Dr. Jim took an xray and also wanted Ruby’s urine sent across to Three Rivers Hospital for a culture. As I explained in that post, using information found online:

A urine culture is a test to find germs (such as bacteria) in the urine that can cause an infection. Urine in the bladder is normally sterile. This means it does not contain any bacteria or other organisms (such as fungi). But bacteria can enter the urethra and cause a urinary tract infection (UTI).

A sample of urine is added to a substance that promotes the growth of germs. If no germs grow, the culture is negative. If germs grow, the culture is positive. The type of germ may be identified using a microscope or chemical tests. Sometimes other tests are done to find the right medicine for treating the infection. This is called sensitivity testing.

Late on Tuesday afternoon, the Clinic rang to say that the full results were in.

So yesterday morning, the air still heavy with the smoke from the forest fires, we called in to Lincoln Road.

The report from Rogue Regional Medical Center, as in Three Rivers Hospital, offered the following:

VET URINE CULTURE

SPECIMEN SOURCE: URINE

COMMENTS TO MICRO: URINE

CULTURE RESULTS: 20,000 CFU/ML PROTEUS MIRABILIS

REPORT STATUS: FINAL 09/02/2017

(My emphasis)

That translated into Ruby’s medicine being changed from her present course of Amoxicillin antibiotic to Enrofloxacin (Two 136 mg tablets by mouth every 24 hours for 10 days.)

A quick web search produced this (in part):

Enrofloxacin (ENR) is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic sold by the Bayer Corporation under the trade name Baytril. Enrofloxacin is currently approved by the FDA for the treatment of individual pets and domestic animals in the United States.

Jeannie reading the details on the label.

Onwards and upwards!

More doggie language.

Preceded by some human language!

Sorry to be a little obtuse with my sub-heading.

But I wanted to inform all you wonderful readers that for the next 6 days I am going to be rather distracted by a book event. I have prepared posts through to the 12th, my first clear day ‘back at my desk’ but if in the meantime you wonder why I am being unresponsive that’s the reason.

I saw the following not too long ago and asked if I might have permission to republish it here. Lea said “Of course”. Thus I am delighted to republish what appeared on Paws Give Me Purpose blog earlier this year.

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Doggie Language

By Lea

Most dog owners wish their pup could speak to them and tell them exactly what they want, how they’re doing and how they’re feeling. I honestly believe dogs can talk, but only to those who know how to listen. Their body language and behaviors are the language they use to speak to you. Do you ever wonder if your dog loves their life? If they’re happy?

This is a picture of Phoebe, a Maltese that was rescued by Yorkie911 Rescue Inc. This was her first day in my home, look at that smile! She knew she was safe and was expressing her happiness.

Here are some ways to know your pup is relaxed and happy:

  • Your dog gets excited! Excited to see you, to play, to eat, to go for walks. If for some reason your dog doesn’t get excited for these things your pup may be telling you they are not be feeling well.
  • Your dog sleeps well. A happy relaxed dog sleeps well. A stressed dog, or if your dog is not feeling well, will be restless and change spots often trying to get comfortable during the night.
  • A healthy dog is a happy dog 🙂 Obviously if your pup isn’t feeling well the signs of happiness won’t show.
  • Pay attention to your dog’s eyes, when your pup is happy his eyes are bright and are their “regular” shape. If your dog is uncomfortable or in pain his eyes will tell you, he may squint.
  • When your dog is happy and relaxed their mouth will be closed or slightly opened with a relaxed tongue hanging out. A panting dog could be hot or stressed, so pay attention to this body language.
  • A destructive dog is a bored dog 🙁 If your dog is content they will play with their toys and bones rather than eat your shoes or anything else.
  • If your dog’s body language is relaxed he/she is happy. Relaxed posture, not tense or stiff. When a dog places it’s head in your lap it’s a relaxed happiness being with his/her person.
  • When your dog is relaxed he/she will carry their tail in its natural position. When they are happy they will wag it from side to side. They may even wiggle their entire body with joy! A tail that is held low or between the legs signals a lack of confidence, nervousness, or fear. (A dog’s tail can tell you a great deal about their moods. A wagging tail does not always mean they are happy, don’t assume that’s always the case. Pay attention to the rest of the dog’s body and actions. Believe me, just the tail itself can be a full post on its own).
  • Happy dogs are active. They love to play with you, with their toys, chew on their bones, explore, and solicit attention from you. They may play bow or initiate physical contact with you by rolling over for a belly rub, this also shows trust. A happy dog wants to hang out with his/her people!
  • A happy dog likes to eat. Some dogs, like one of mine, can be picky eaters when it comes to meals, but in general when they are happy, he/she will enjoy eating. What dog can resist a cookie.
  • Some dogs rarely bark, but those that do have a higher-pitched bark when they’re happy than they usually do. Sometimes it’s even a high pitched howl in this house.
Spirit, a Doberman I rescued from a backyard breeder myself, smiling as she eats some doggie ice cream. Look at her joyful expression!

While you obviously know your dog best, these are the ways I see my dogs express their relaxed and happy mood. Having a rescue dog in my home that was labeled “aggressive” has taught me a great deal about my pups body language and what they are trying to tell me. There really is a great deal we can learn from our furry friends body language and we can understand what they are saying by simply watching closely.

Further reading:

http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/features/what-is-your-dog-telling_you

http://www.aspcapro.org/resource/7-tips-canine-body-language

http://www.petplace.com/article/dogs/behavior-training/understanding-your-dog/is-your-dog-happy

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The world would be a much, much sorrier place without our gorgeous dogs.

Thanks Lea.

Tanja Brandt

I promised you more background information.

You will all recall that when we were ‘enjoying’ the chaos of having new flooring installed in three of our rooms I posted over a number of days a selection of wonderful, incredible photographs taken by Tanja Brandt.  Here is one of those photos.

We were all utterly enthralled by them and wanted to know more about Tanja.

But Tanja is German and her website and blogsite are, not surprisingly, in German. However, a good friend of mine from times past, Chris Snuggs, who is fluent in German (and French) came to the rescue when I asked for a favour of an English translation.

I sent Chris the link to Tanja’s ‘About Me’ page and here is what Chris emailed me yesterday.

Paul

At this URL: https://www.ingoundelse.de/%C3%BCber-mich/

…. she introduces herself with two short texts followed by a list of publications and/or photographic events and awards etc.

I have done a translation of the two elements of her introduction but not attempted to translate the list that follows.

I am assuming that if you want to write an introduction to her you can take her words according to my translation and reformulate them in your own words.

If you want a proper translation of her own words then I think I would need to work on it a bit more. The difficulty there is that if I translate her words directly it will not sound great in English; to get her meaning across in good English I would have to be a bit more free with the phrasing.

I hope that makes sense.

Made sense to me! Wonderful sense!
Here are those translations with the original German in blockquotes and the English translation by Chris topped and tailed with Tanja’s photographs:

Über mich …
Verlasse dich auf dein Herz – es schlug schon, bevor du denken konntest …

…. gibt es nicht so viel zu erzählen. Meine große Leidenschaft, seit ich in Windeln krabbeln kann, sind Tiere.

Tiere im Allgemeinen – vor allem auch Greifvögel und Raubkatzen – und Hunde im Speziellen.

Ich glaube, ich spreche ihre Sprache.

Ein Leben ohne Tiere ist für mich schwer vorstellbar und wenn Jemand keine Tiere mag, dann wird er sich vermutlich nicht sehr lange bei mir aufhalten.

About me
Trust your heart; it was beating before you were capable of thought.

There’s not all that much to say. My greatest passion even since I was a baby are animals – all kinds of animals, above all birds of prey and big cats – and especially dogs.

I believe I speak their language!

For me a life without animals is difficult to imagine, and if someone doesn’t like animals, then he or she would probably not be around me for long.

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Fotografie ist meine Leidenschaft

Wie es begann?

Ich wollte schöne Fotos von meinen Tieren. Bzw überhaupt von Tieren. Fotos, die die Seele und den Charakter des jeweiligen Tieres widerspiegeln. Nicht einfach nur Fotos.

So kam mir der Gedanke, mit einer professionellen Kamera dürfte das kein Problem sein. Die Kamera wurde gekauft und es ging los – das Ergebnis war ernüchternd ….

Ich musste dann doch noch einige Workshops besuchen, um da zu sein, wo ich heute stehe.Kurse, Workshops, Webinare, Bücher, Austausch mit anderen Fotografen und viel üben. Und ich versuche jeden Tag, was dazu zu lernen und zu entdecken.

Aber allein das Technikverständnis macht es nicht aus, um die Seele der Tiere zu zeigen und die Arbeit mit den Tieren ist so wertvoll. Ich kann Tiere nur fotografieren, wenn sie sich wohlfühlen und mit Begeisterung mitmachen oder Wildtiere eben keine Angst vor mir haben.

Photography is my passion. How did it all begin?
I wanted to take beautiful photos of my animals, indeed, of all animals: photos which would reveal the soul and character of each animal – not just snaps …..

So I had the idea that all I needed was a professional camera. The camera was bought and off I went – the experience was chastening. I realized I needed training to get where I am now: went to workshops, on courses, internet lessons, books, exchanges with other photographers and lots more. And I still try every day to discover and learn something new.

But technique alone doesn’t suffice to lay bare the soul of a creature. Working with animals is so fulfilling, but I can only photograph them when they are at ease and enthusiastically join in the process, or if with wild animals when they are not afraid of me.

So many things make presenting this blog to you so very special for me. Then something comes along that takes it into the stratosphere of being special. That is Tanja Brandt. Tanja’s photographs and how she describes herself are stratospheric!

I am so pleased to have been granted permission by Tanja to share her photographs; something I never want to stop doing!

Visiting the Vet – Ruby’s UTI

This one is closer to home!

Back on the 11th August Jean and I took Ruby into Lincoln Road Vet because there was blood in her urine. Ruby is one of our six dogs that we have at home. Ruby is the last of the Mexican ex-rescue dogs and is an eleven-year old Sharpei mix.

Here she is staring up at me to the right of Oliver in the picture below .

In clockwise order: Oliver; Sweeny; Ruby; Pedy.

Because of Ruby’s age and background and the fact that there was significant blood in her urine we were bracing ourselves for some bad news.

Once checked in it wasn’t too long a wait before we were shown in to Dr. Jim’s room.

There Jim took some urine for analysis and then started examining Ruby. Jim was worried that Ruby might have kidney stones.

However, and thankfully, the urine test revealed an infection, nothing worse! A urinary tract infection or UTI.

Therefore, the first move would be to start Ruby on a course of Amoxillin.

Jim explained that Amoxillin was an antibiotic that he thought would be good for Ruby and would quickly determine whether or not Ruby had a simple urinary tract infection (UTI) or if it was something more challenging (my words).

Wikipedia offers a good description of Amoxicillin, from which I offer the opening paragraph.

Amoxicillin, also spelled amoxycillin, is an antibiotic useful for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections.[2] It is the first line treatment for middle ear infections. It may also be used for strep throat, pneumonia, skin infections, and urinary tract infections among others.[2] It is taken by mouth, or less commonly by injection.[2][3]

Maybe my initial reluctance to publish this Visiting the Vet post was down to me not wanting to do that before the results of the antibiotic treatment were clear.

Ergo, Jean and I are overjoyed to report that the Amoxicillin course did sort everything out and that Ruby is over her UTI and back to being her normal, healthy, happy self.

When Jim called us at home a week later he was just as pleased to hear the good news!

The wonderful love of a dog

Just enjoy!

We are chilling out for a couple of days giving our attention to Mark and Debbie who are staying with us. They came over to view the eclipse and I shall feature a few of Mark’s photographs for this coming Sunday’s Picture Parade.

(The following first seen over on the Care2 website)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRd0aLNolg8

Published on Aug 2, 2017

This dog’s motherly instincts are so strong that she feels the need to help raise an abandoned litter of kittens. What a hero!

And not this is not a dog that is living in a loving home but a stray dog! Incredible creatures.

Giving us better lives!

Delighted to republish this for you all.

Marc who blogs at Healthy Pawz recently decided to follow this place. I went across to Healthy Pawz to leave my thanks for the follow, as I always try to do, and read a most wonderful post. Wanted to republish it here today.

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Pets Can Change Our Life For The Better

myhealthypawz

Posted on August 18, 2017

Pets have an amazing ability to change our lives for the better. They find that special place in our heart and latch on with incredible amounts of unconditional love. When we regularly give our pets undivided attention, we build a bond and connection that will last a lifetime.

Every moment we spend with our pets is an opportunity to observe them and learn more about their personality, nuances or needs. Notice the simple and basic things about your pet like when they are relaxed, comfortable, happy, anxious, etc., just as you would a child. Those moments of observation will teach you so much about the little being that wants nothing more than to provide you with unconditional love and attention.

Another great benefit to having a pet is that they can sometimes see in us what we cannot see in ourselves. We know about service pets that support people in different ways for sight, comfort, seizures, autism, etc. But, our own pets are also in tune to our needs and emotions. However, we are sometimes so rushed with life that we fail to recognize the great gift our pets are offering us (me included). We have a rescue kitten with one eye and in my opinion, she’s amazing. This little cat noticed inflections in my voice that indicated stress of some sort. For me it was business as usual, but for her it was climb on my chest and rub her little face against mine. After a few hundred times of this (exaggerated of course) I finally realized that she was trying to calm me down. And I learned to better recognize when I needed to take a step back with a deep breath throughout the day.

We live in a very fast paced, get it done kind of society. That kind of daily grind can strip away some of our compassion and empathy because we are so overwhelmed with other aspects of life that we may not notice when we are stuck in that vortex spinning around aimlessly. Whether we realize it or not our pets are a great conduit to restoring that which we need to sustain us in our human relationships. Compassion and empathy are easily understood, but not always easily lived out. Our pets are a daily reminder of this because they provide both compassion and empathy daily. Because of this, we have an opportunity to reciprocate compassion and empathy back to them and to those around us.

Whether you have a dog, cat, hamster, etc., pets can enhance our lives in so many ways. Carve out some daily time to spend with your furry loved one, observe them on their terms and take some time to reflect about how they are benefiting your life. Watch over time as your emotional intelligence evolves through this process.

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There is so much wise advice in that post!

Hard to highlight any particular sentence but this one spoke to me early on: “When we regularly give our pets undivided attention, we build a bond and connection that will last a lifetime.”

Our Brandy!

A connection that will last a lifetime!