I’m sitting here with my dog, and two boarded dogs at my feet. I’m pretty sure I’ve averaged walking close to 10 miles a day, ride the bike about a mile a day, and even with taking time off to work with my board/train dogs, have worked over 50 hous this week. Thats not to mention (although I’m mentioning it) the time I’ve spent sending & following up on quotes, answering emails from clients and sending daily updates. My old legs would love to stay kicked up on the couch, my shoulders, ankle & wrists hurt…whhaaaa!
But you know what? I need to walk the first dog (who’s owner is late picking her up) because she’s going on a car ride to Houston. I need to get on the phone with this tool of a guy at Chase about card reader for client payments (this seems simple but he’s dragged this out over two weeks now, the branch by my house’s merchant services person is on maternity leave). And most importantly, I need to get to Clark’s first training session of the day.
A coworker & friend yesterday mentioned something like he hopes we’re really making a difference with what we do for our dogs because he aches when home & our days seem to be getting longer. Luckily for him, I don’t have any boards scheduled in the near future, so I won’t be leaving early which leaves him by himself for half a day. I told him that we make a huge difference in those dog’s stay at our shelter because we really interact & exercise them – play with them in the yard for awhile, get them into play groups, & walk them (with some great volunteer help!).
I walked a dog yesterday who came in so nervous it took me over 15 min to go a distance thats normally about 5min, because of the patience & time I spent with her, 
I actually now am having to work on her not jumping excitedly for affection.
All the aches & pains this old man gets, the frustrations that sometimes come with trying to work on “issues” in a less than optimal environment to do so are well worth it when those dogs show their appreciation by acting appropriately (even if it’s not everytime, when they show they know it’s great, it’s progress!) & giving us their affection…those few short moments wipe away all the hours of pain & frustration!
Keep calm & confident in whatever is going on in life…
Aim for the perfection, but recognize on your progress…
