Help During the Grieving Process With the Loss of a Beloved Pet

My friend Colleen Mihelich is an animal lover and pet loss expert who founded Peternity - a company dedicated to helping others celebrate the life and love of their furry friends. She also has the wonderful and informative Peternity blog, where she offers heartfelt stories, along with enlightening guidance on how to cope when you do lose a beloved pet. I know I dread the day, but I am comforted knowing she will be there for me if and when that day comes.

One of her latest posts was on Pet Loss Tips for Getting Through the Holidays. A few pet loss grieving tips she talked about were:

• How to spend your time.
• How to help others while helping yourself grieve.
• How to honor your pet.
• How to deal with your emotions.

After reading through the content, I'd say one can use this information any time of the year - although, I know the holidays can be quite tough - especially since our non-human family members mean so much to us.

To read more about pet grieving tips from Colleen, please click here to see the Peternity blog post - You can also check out her Peternity website to share, heal, and help - both yourself and others.

Animal Rescue Groups Great Options for Gifts and Recognition

Whether it be a holiday celebration that unites the entire planet, or one in which we celebrate an individual person gifts are something we think about year long. What's another option for giving when you've run out of ideas, or you just want to do something different? How about donating to a special non-profit group?

For my complimentary webinars I ask attendees if they want to give back in some way that a donation to one of the above charities,or one of their own choice, is always welcomed and appreciated. Similar to paying it forward.

Some of mine and Poncho's personal favorites for dogs and other non-human animals are:

1. The Canine Adoption and Rescue League (C.A.R.L.) This is Ventura's local non-profit dog rescue group.
2. Dog Adoption and Welfare Group (D.A.W.G.) A non-profit dog rescue in Santa Barbara (I see them at some of my running events - they have great teams!)
3. Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. What an awesome group!
4. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
5. The Humane of the United States

For human charities both my husband and I support the American Cancer Society. We both lost parents to cancer and like to support those who have supported us.

Thanks to all who spend the time thinking of others, and giving back in some way or another.

This Dog Trainer Can Trust Her Own Dog, and the Dog Training

We had a little incident at our home this evening. Yep, I admit, this dog trainer isn't perfect and neither are the rest of the humans in the household. However, Poncho, my inquisitive canine and trusty dog behavior advice column sidekick seemed to be spot on tonight, (although I admit my fast twitch muscle fibers were working well).

What was the issue? We had a cookie malfunction: my darling husband was carrying a cookie and half of it fell out of his hand and flew across the slippery hardwood floor like a hockey puck on the way to the goal. Needless to say, Poncho McQuikie pants was right on its tail!

I was in the other room, watching the whole thing go down, envisioning Poncho consume his entire caloric intake for the week in one bite, but before his soft warm fuzzy lips wrapped themselves around the delectable molasses chew from Trader Joes, I yelled out "Leave it!" as I was flying out of the chair and across the room, while reaching in and grabbing the mouthwatering morsel up off the floor...AND BY GOLLY PONCHO THE DOG DID IT! Poncho actually backed away from it even BEFORE my hand was near it! I was so shocked I did the happy dance, said he was a good boy, then broke off a tiny, Poncho-sized piece for his reward of leaving it alone!

The "Leave it!" behavior is one of the basic cues I teach in many of my dog training classes here in Ventura. And I guess all the practice with him as my demo dog has paid off! During this more emotional time, I allowed all the training practice to kick in and lo and behold it worked! One of my dog training class mantra's is "Train it before you need it!" or "Don't wait to need a behavior to train a behavior!" I always hope I never have to use this type of cue (usually indicates danger), but it's nice to know I have it in my arsenal just in case there is a cookie incident.

Another point I make in my dog training classes is the concept of "trust". The use of food in dog training helps dogs develop trust between themselves and whomever is working with them, or with other humans. For owners, they need to trust that their dogs are actually going to perform the behaviors they are being taught. I guess I'm the prime example of that!

Thank you my darling inquisitive canine Poncho! I hope I won't need to use that cue again, but it's nice to know you're paying attention and that I can trust you know you're stuff - and the cues! What a good boy you are!