Left Alone...

This has been a hard two weeks for me. Each week, I have had two client's scheduled to work with me and I go in and they aren't there. It is so hard because I get so excited when I get to work. We get there and get all my things set up and then wait....wait...and wait somemore. When Tara calls, they either do not answer or say they forgot. Don't they know it hurts my feelings to be "forgotten" about.



I love Tara, but I love even more to work with the kids and help them with what they are working on. I am needing to learn that I cannot pout when this happens and to understand that sometimes things don't happen the way we plan. This has been a very hard lesson because it never seems to happen to Abbey. Abbey is so easy going, so maybe it does happen to her but it just doesn't bother her.



Have you ever had something that you get excited about but then doesn't happen? How do you handle it? This feeling happens when Tara and Geoff go out of town because no where takes dogs my size, so we both stay with family while they go. There has been talk about packing, so I think they are leaving again and we will stay behind....oh wait, that also means no work--At least I will be able to play with Dante and Gracie!

Unconditional Love

What a time we have had getting settled since the CARES grand opening. Things have been so hectic and clients are requesting us more than ever. There have been some days that Bode and I both go to work, like yesterday--I worked the morning and Bode the afternoon.

I realized with the teenager I was working with how unconditional love is so important. I love everyone that wants to love me too! It is fun to figure out what they need from me, whether it be a hug, kiss, to rub my belly, or for me to just sit next to them. Sometimes I think they need a kiss and they don't want it (although Tara says it could be because I have breath that smells bad--I like it!).

I hope that you all have a canine friend or even a human that allows you to be yourself and love you no matter what. When you give someone that opportunity to be vulnerable without judgement, it is one of the best feelings for someone to experience. Imagine the validation of your feelings...it is something that I love to give and hope that each of our readers attempt to achieve by loving and receiving love from others.

Have a great rest of the weekend~~Abbey :)

Grand Opening Celebration...

Boy are we tired and that is why the lag in posting this! We finally made a dual appearance at the CARES Grand Opening that was also an open house for our counseling practice. That was 3 1/2 hours of non-stop loving. One of us couldn't get enough and the other was overwhelmed...Bode couldn't get enough!

Abbey had a rough time with all the different people wanting to say hi and just laid on the couch. People that visited us got to see our different personalities and realize that we have different feelings and reactions to things just like people. Abbey is more introverted and Bode is an extrovert!

If you are in the area and want to stop by, we both love one on one visitors and look forward to seeing you at our playroom or in the CARES side.

Way to go CARES on filling such a great need in the community and allowing us to be apart of it!

Another Therapy Dog Doing Good Things...

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/jul/06/pet-therapy-comforts-hospital-patients/

Different Interests....

Well, Coconut came to visit us again this weekend and it has been fun. None of us are so sure about those loud noises outside that Geoff and Tara say are fireworks, but we made it through the worst night. Happy 4th of July to everyone (even though it is a day late!)

We learned that we all have different interests and have to be ok with not always liking what the others want to do. This came about yesterday when Coconut decided to go swimming in our pool... he just kept jumping in, swimming around and then repeat. Well, let's just say we don't do the pool thing and hide or sunbathe when others do, however we have never seen a fellow four-legged friend swim! Tara brought us out some doggie ice cream, so we ate our ice cream and watched Coconut go and go. They taught him how to climb on the raft when he needed a break and the repeat again. I dont think any of us thought we could get him to come out of the pool for they day!

When he came in, we tried to get him to play games like chase and tug and he just ignored us as he was too tired. We learned that is ok to do your own thing and not always needing to be with others, but it is fun to find a way to share your time and do both as well.

You still won't get us in that pool thing...we can't touch the bottom...but give us doggie ice cream any day!!

To the doctor...

Hey it's Bode. Tara praised me for my patience with a client this week and I thought I would share. I don't know why this happened, but it did and it seemed to really help the 5 year old girl I was working with.

We have doctor and vet kit in our playroom and for some reason she decided to play with it yesterday. The entire session, she was giving me pretend shots, checking my ears, teeth, tail and legs. She even pretended to take an x-ray and my blood pressure. I got all three of my legs wrapped as they were "broken". I was very patient with her and she kept finding things wrong with me...I ended up with a fever too, so she gave me lots of water to drink!

After all the things that made me unhealthy were fixed, the little girl gave me cookies and laid down with me telling me that things will be great. I think she worked a lot inside of her and I was able to help her. It is amazing to see how playing doctor can make a little girl feel good...and I loved the attention I got!

You never know how playing can make things feel better for a client!