Thought I’d share a day in the life of Krista Cantrell “pet parent.”

Pip, 9.5 year old BC, had bloody diarrhea everywhere at 2 am, 4 am, 9 am 2 pm… to say that clean up was challenging is an understatement.
But if you have dogs or kids you know what it’s like…

Pip  nudged me awake at 2 am, but by the time my husband went downstairs to let her outside, there it was spread from the kitchen to the back door.

At 4 am only a four foot area by the back door.  Is this considered progress?

Outside with the puppies at 9 am because they needed to tinkle and pooh… and surprise! There it was in the kitchen and next to the door.

Meanwhile you know I’m taking her outside every 20 minutes or so  and giving her my favorite acidopholous combination, but it isn’t working.

How is it that as soon as I leave with the puppies, she needs to go again?

Meanwhile this morning Ranger, 22 week old BC, attacked his tail with a vengence; so bad there was a two inch raw spot – so I called the vet and got her only appointment at 6:40 pm tonight. No problem. It’s my only night not teaching dog class and my to-do list can wait again.

However, to keep Ranger from licking the hydracortisone I put on his tail – I put Boots and Ranger in the front ring with Steele – my 6 yards per second BC.  Ive done this before…

They were cruising at top BC speed – Boots is as fast as Steele at 22 weeks – and Boots slammed into the agility weave poles, flipped in the air, and hit the ground. When he got up he was three – legged.

So i came inside, gave Boots an aspirin – cleaned up dog pooh everywhere – and got really really discouraged.

And I really am not much of a downer person, but he was three-legged. I decided to bring him to the vet appointment with Ranger at 6:40 pm.

Because I just refuse to stay down, I took a Krista time-out and journeyed to the spiritlands to get a bigger perspective on what was happening.

After the journey I did a qigong bodywork session on Boots. (I guess there are some advantages to be a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine.)

Then it was computer – time. Wrote a couple of responses to people on the Best Dog Ever site, did a few Facebook comments, checked email.

Next up –  dealt with the needs of my other 5 dogs, 3 horses, and cat.

And today is the day I have the aggressive dog appointment. (Will the fun never end??? Trust me aggressive dogs are not fun.)

Then, drove to the vets office. Oops! Ranger poohed in his crate. Puppies!!!

After seeing the veterinarian and driving home with yet another $500 vet bill… I gotta tell you I was overwhelmed.

I don’t normally get discouraged, but today was the exception.

Home at last.

Opened my email and heard from the really great tech guy that makes my Your Best Dog Ever site possible.
And he had something good he wanted to share! Whoo hoo!

The next email was from someone that I’ve been working with in my role as shaman and life coach… and she got a wonderful job offer, and that’s what we’ve been working on (Yup. I even rewrote her resume.)

The emails were perfect timing.

Spirit has pretty amazing ways of letting people know they are not forgotten.

Now I’ m back to being myself, but I am soooo tired. – because it’s been so dicey today waiting with Boots until he could have x-rays… But his shoulder is not broken! It will just take a little time to heal, but it’s okay.

Ranger doesn’t have mites or anything – he just needs some antibiotics and Lidocaine.

Pip’s test came out negative, so she just needs a little something extra from the veterinarian.

And me… I’m totally blessed because I’m a Pet Parent – and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Shine!

Krista

Positive dog training means that you don’t just train your dog what NOT to do, you also TEACH your dog what you do want him to do.

The most important concept when practicing positive dog training is to understand that “No!” doesn’t teach. Yes, it may stop bad behavior in the moment, but it doesn’t teach the dog how you want him to behave over the long haul.

Here’s a discussion I had about this very topic on CNN.

Enjoy…