High Maintenance?
TAYLOR’S TIPS Newsletter for a more productive you…(from Mom Peep and not from Charlie Bear):
Dear Friend,
Have you ever had a high maintenance dog? Our Rex was a short-haired Golden Lab who never needed anything more than a good bath once in a while.
Not Charlie Bear. His fur grows and grows! When I broke my elbow I was out of our normal routine. Charlie usually goes to the groomer at least once a month and he gets a haircut about every third month.
Well, we didn’t get his hair cut in the winter months (too cold for the little guy we figured), and just last week I looked at him and said, “Charlie Bear, you are one shaggy dog!” His fur was oily and thick and he looked scruffy (cute, but scruffy!).
So off to the groomer we went. With a guy like Charlie, if his fur becomes too long it gets matted. The groomer prepared me. “I’m going to have to cut him down to about 5/8” in order to clip out the matted parts,” she said.
When I picked him up he looked like a new dog.
“Skinny Boy,” I called out to him and he ran into my arms. We came home and he raced around the yard. It was as if he had a weight lifted (when I weighed him before and after—he’d lost a whole pound), plus, he looked years younger! Okay, he’s only 3 ½, but he looked and acted like a puppy again.
That’s when I wondered if I also needed to have weight lifted off of me, and I’m not just talking physically. Oh, sure, I need to lose that stubborn 5 pounds, but there are other things weighing me down as well: my way of thinking about things, my lack of self-confidence sometimes, my attitude toward work or a project or a person. Maybe I could become a new me and feel younger too if I “shed” some of what was bothering me.
You see, I’m high maintenance too. And in the rush and hurry of life as it spins, I need to take time out to work on me. How about you?
Hugs and love, and blessings on your work.
Follow your dreams…
B.J.
What’s Happening:
Charlie Bear’s story is in Guideposts magazine! There’s also a cool picture of him with us:
http://www.guideposts.org/inspiration/pet-stories/learning-to-love-charlie-bear
A recent review:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Charlie Bear: What a Headstrong Rescue Dog Taught Me About Life, Love, and Second Chances (Paperback)
“An inspiring, well-written story about the healing power of love and how patience, affection and care can triumph over neglect and abuse. I was especially comforted and encouraged by her insight on dealing with the heartache of pet grief — when to let go and be willing to start again. Thanks, BJ!”
Sandi Olson
Freelance writer & journalist
Want to know what Charlie Bear is up to?
Go to: http://www.facebook.com/charliebearwigglesandwoofs or @CharlieBearY2K on Twitter.
He loves “likes” and “follows.”
Website: http://www.bjtayloronline.com
Email: bj@bjtayloronline.com
Blog: http://www.bjtaylorblog.wordpress.com
Guess Who’s Pregnant?
Charlie Bear here. Heck, it’s not me who is pregnant! I’m a dog and I’ve been fixed. So who’s pregnant?
These guys!
Mom Peep couldn’t be happier for Nick and Kaitlyn, who are pregnant again! Doctor thinks they are due December 14th, which would be exactly one month from the date their first baby Hailey was born on November 14th, 2012. Hailey was called by God to be an angel in heaven on January 3rd of this year. We know Hailey is sending her Mommy and Daddy love.
Mom Peep is super thrilled, as some of you know she has been very sad at the loss of Hailey, but she’s inspired by Nick and Kaitlyn’s strong bond of love. A brand new life is brewing now and the entire family will be together in August to celebrate the baby “bump” that they saw last year at that same time.
Way to go, Nick and Kaitlyn! We wish you all the most happiness!
I’m even checking out my stash of toys. I think I might send the new baby-in-waiting one or two. But which ones? The only one I must keep is my turtle. I love my turtle!
Wiggles and woofs,
Charlie Bear
Ever view a scene like this?
Yup, if I had a boy that would be us – me…him…by a tree.
What a sight to see. A boy and a tree.
Wiggles and woofs,
Charlie Bear
Almost all healed…thanks to…
Me! Me! Charlie Bear here…and I say Mom Peep’s healed elbow is because of me!
Yup, it was me who snuggled, nuzzled, and licked her back to health.
Okay, maybe Dad Peep’s advice to take extra calcium to promote bone healing, and the people at the office who helped Mom Peep so she didn’t do too much work with that right arm, and the exercises the doctor gave her helped too.
She broke the elbow on March 6. Six weeks later, Mom visited the ortho doc. He took x-rays and the bone is all healed! He told Mom it takes a long time to heal the muscles and tendons from the wrist all the way up to the shoulder because they were traumatized in the fall, but she was doing good. He said she has 10% more mobility to gain back in relation to the arm extension but it’s coming along.
So that’s fabulous news. And I’m so happy for her. She can do pretty much all the stuff she did before (brushing her hair, reaching above her head), and she’s hoping she’ll be able to work in one more thing this summer:
She wants to get back to golfing (this is a picture of her from a few years ago). Then she says she’ll be really happy and physically back to normal. (Whatever normal is!).
Wiggles and Woofs to you,
Charlie Bear
I Could Do These Things, Right?
Charlie Bear here with a question for you. Check out this set of pictures and tell me something. I could do what this guy is doing. I could, I could, I could…if I was him!
http://thiswildidea.com/#maddie_the_coonhound
This is one truly awesome dog. He seems so…well…calm, compliant, serene. I guess I couldn’t really be him. I’m…well…wild, restless, like to run. Huh. Guess to each his own. We can’t all be Maddie the Coonhound. But kudos to Maddie!
Woofs and Wiggles,
Charlie Bear
Check out the guy who takes all these pictures. His name is Theron Humphrey:
http://www.thiswildidea.com
theronhumphrey@gmail.com
What Makes a Wonderful World?
Some of the creatures in this commercial from the BBC have the cutest faces:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/auSo1MyWf8g?rel=0
Kind of like me, right?
Anyway, Mom Peep thinks it’s pretty awesome…do you agree?
Wiggles and Woofs,
Charlie Bear
A Bonus? Can You Get a Bonus Anymore?
Charlie Bear here. Did you know I’m a writer? Me, little ‘ole me, wrote seven essays of life before rescue and adoption. It’s a tell-all series that encapsulates my life on the streets, my foster home, and my angst at being “captured.” It includes these chapters:
Spin Cycles (rescued by an angel)
Foster Care (a safe haven for whom?)
Unwanted (nobody cared)
One Yard (boxed in with nowhere to go)
Take a Hike (did he seal his own fate?)
Two Steps Back (a hidden problem comes to light)
Hope, Faith, and Trepidation (can this headstrong dog find his forever home?)
Oh, you could say I am lucky, and I’d … agree with you! I am one lucky doggie and I’d be the first to say it. But life wasn’t so pretty back then.
Anyway, determine for yourself. The bonus section from me is called: CHARLIE BEAR’S LIFE BEFORE ADOPTION. It’s part of Mom Peep’s book titled SUNNY SIDE UP: Inspiring Stories for Tough Times / Women / Dog & Cat Lovers. As you can guess, my bonus section is in the Dog & Cat Lovers part. It runs from page 284 to page 306.
Mom initially brought this out as three separate ebooks, and you can still get each one that way, but I like the print book because it has all the stories together (it’s also a heck of a value–full of Mom’s Chicken Soup stories plus others never seen before).
If you read it, let me know if you like my section, okay? And if you’ve ever had a dog that went through what I went through.
Woofs and Wiggles to you,
Charlie Bear
Here’s the link to Mom Peep’s Amazon page where you can see all the books at once (just scroll down when you get there): http://www.amazon.com/author/bjtaylor
April 22, 2013 at 9:39 am 3 comments