dogs

Practicing

Posted by Barbara Techel
Practicing
Kylie

Nineteen days before we leave on vacation – in our van camper named Second Chance. But who’s counting?  Me, oh yes – I am counting as I’m really looking forward to time away. It’s been three years since our last vacation.

Last night as I crawled into bed to read for a while, Kylie was curled up next to John. It’s their nightly routine. I read for a while in the living room, but then love to read a chapter or two and snuggle with Kylie, John, and Gidget for a bit before I drift off to sleep.

Normally Kylie sleeps in her kennel in the kitchen overnight because she snores quite loud. But lately she has been lucky because John has been letting her stay in bed all night. Well, that is unless I tell her to “go kennel” when she wakes me in the middle of the night with her snores.

But John says she is “practicing.” Meaning, by sleeping in bed she is practicing for sleeping in the van. It’s kind of hard to not smile at his “logic.” And it’s really hard to ask Kylie to leave the bed when she is all snuggled in as she was last night.

So often lately, when I see her sleeping, I see her in a different way – my sweet girl who is getting older – sleeping deeper. It’s hard sometimes to think about her time with us as so much more limited now than when she was a pup. She will be eleven on the 24th of this month.

But with this, it brings a deeper appreciation and love for the dog that has truly been one of the best dogs we’ve ever had. Don’t get me wrong, all my dogs have been wonderful and you know how I love those dachshunds – but Kylie has been an angel here on earth in a dogs body for us. Always going with the flow, never making much fuss, content to just be, and there to comfort us in her own special way when needed.

We’ve truly been blessed with a great dog in Kylie. So “practice if she must” – we will in turn go with the flow for her.

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Pooch Smooches Shares “Wisdom Found in the Pause” and Thought-Provoking Interview

Posted by Barbara Techel
Pooch Smooches Shares "Wisdom Found in the Pause" and Thought-Provoking Interview
Me & Joie when I first brought Joie home in the fall of 2012.

Today I invite you to visit my friend, Jackie Bouchard’s blog, Pooch Smooches, where she interviews me about my new book. You will want to check out Jackie’s books too, if you don’t already know about them. They are among my top ten favorite books about dogs!

Here’s a sneak peek at the interview…

PS: It’s no spoiler to warn blog readers that Joie dies during the telling of your story – after all, you mention it on page 1. What made you decide to do that?
BT: Thank you for asking this question. I struggled with whether or not I should state that up front at the beginning of writing this book. Mainly, because so often I’ve read or heard people comment that they won’t read a book where a dog has died – that it is just too painful.

While I truly understand that pain, I’ve come to see transition in death and transition during trials in our life that there are gifts within these times of pain and difficulty. Meaning, that if we only focus on the sadness of death or a change in our life, we tend to miss out on the new blessings it often brings, too.

Click here to read rest of the interview…plus read Jackie’s final note “about books where the dog dies…”

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How I Stopped Comparing My Dog Joie, to My Deceased Dog, Frankie

Posted by Barbara Techel
How I Stopped Comparing My Dog Joie, to My Deceased Dog, Frankie
JOIE

Last week in celebration of the release of my new book, Wisdom Found in the Pause – Joie’s Gift I did my first ever live event on Facebook. I was quite nervous, but afterwards I received such wonderful feedback from many – it made it all very well worth it and I’m so glad I  took the plunge. If you didn’t have a chance to watch live, you can view the recording here.

But one question I got, which I think is important to expand on is this one from viewer, Sharon: “How did you resolve your issue of comparing Joie to Frankie?”

I do write about this in Wisdom Found in the Pause, but what I came to understand is that I had so closely tied my identity to Frankie and all my work with her, that when she died, I felt like I had lost my sense of purpose.  And we all know how so many of us search a for what seems a good long time to find our purpose – and many that feel they never find one.

Even though I’d been feeling this nudge to expand, I didn’t quite know what that looked like. So it felt more comfortable to think I’d continue to do what I’d always done, instead of marinating in the feelings I was experiencing that I was being called to end the chapter I defined as “Frankie.” While I truly wanted another special needs dachshund to love and care for, what wasn’t clear was how I was going to move forward now that Frankie was gone.

Many of you know I adopted Joie four months after Frankie’s passing and I was so happy to have a little one to care for again. As the days started to unfold I was having a hard time feeling a bond with her, or feeling deeply connected, like I had with Frankie.

What I did was reach out to my friend, Dawn, who is an animal communicator. She had helped me before with Frankie and I felt confident she could do the same with Joie.

While I don’t want to give it all away (and you can read more in my new book), it was during the reading with Dawn that I had the courage to admit I knew I was comparing Joie to Frankie.  It wasn’t that I was really doing it consciously, but rather subconsciously. And the issue was really all about me. I was having a hard time letting go of Frankie and what was. I needed to let things evolve organically with Joie and let her be her own dog. I truly wanted what was best for her and wanted more than anything for her to feel loved, safe and nurtured.

In many ways I owed this to Joie – but I also owed it to myself to see the truth of what was transpiring. And the beauty of one of the many gifts that Joie brought to my life. She helped me to see that I could let go and move forward – that I could expand on who I was and it would all be okay.

Every dog arrives in our lives to teach us something – arriving at just the right time – and I knew it was up to me to open myself fully to the lessons Joie was here to teach me, not only so she herself could live a happy and quality life while here – but that Frankie could rest in peace – and I could live more from the truth of who I am.

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Tomorrow I’ll be sharing a link to auhtor, Jackie Bouchard’s blog, PoochSmooches. We did a recent Q & A about my book, Wisdom Found in the Pause, and one of the questions I enjoyed answering is this one:

  1. I really related to the quote from Sue Bender (p108) to “practice feeling good where you are.” I have to continually remind myself of the lesson from our angel Abby – to live in the moment. I think this is such a great lesson for everyone, no matter where you are in life. Can you expand on how you practice feeling good about where you are?

I hope you will stay tuned for my answer!

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