A Peanut Butter-Filled Kong and an Icy, Cold Beer!

Today was a rough day for me - professionally.  As a teacher for over 17 years (ouch!), this school year has been one of the most challenging I have ever endured.  The demands that have been placed on me and all my other colleagues is immense:  long meetings after school; weekly lesson plans turned in to the principal; weekly observations; no classroom; serving the students breakfast; lunch duty; in school suspension duty; hall sweep duty; and double duty (haha!)  All of these arduous activities leaves me with no time to even have a "potty" break!  To say I am stressed and overwhelmed is an understatement.

After venting to my mom after work (thanks MOM!), I feel more positive and have "turned my frown upside down!"  What changed my attitude was playing with Jefferson.  Sometimes, all it takes is your dog to remind you of what is really important in life. 

Here are a few things that Jefferson has taught me:

1.  Patience in all situations.  Jefferson really did not mean to eat that $100 shoe!

2.  Live in the present.  Tomorrow is a new day and he has already forgotten that he ate my shoe seconds ago...

3.  Rewards count.  Mmmm....cheese!!! (And liverwurst, chicken, apples, fishy fudge...hey, Jefferson is a Cocker Spaniel!)

4.  Take time to rest and re-charge your batteries.  Spending most of the day crated, Jefferson gets his beauty rest and time to re-charge his energy.

5.  Have fun!  Life is too short to not run as fast you can through the weave poles!

6.  Roll around on the ground and act crazy.  This gets Jefferson excited every time before we play tug, hide and go seek, and fetch.

7. Detach from the outcome.  Our agility ribbons are extremely pretty; but, I learned more from the runs that did not earn any ribbon.

8.  Exercise often.  Walking, running and moving as much as you can helps relieve pent-up energy and stress as well as burn those extra calories (keeps Jefferson from eating paper out of boredom!)

9.  Spend quality time with family and friends.  Jefferson loves spending time "playing" agility and learning new tricks with me.  It helps us both learn from each other.

10.  There is nothing that a peanut-butter filled Kong and an icy cold beer won't cure!!  No explanation necessary....

 

These are just a few of the life lessons I have learned from my lovable, sweet doggie Jefferson.  He continues to teach me daily....




"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."
~Thomas Jefferson