Dinky is sitting on the desk snuggling with me and snoozing on my arm as I type this. I haven't been blogging as much lately. Been so busy with work and Bingo has taken up all the rest of my time. He is definitely a handful.  He just has TONS of energy and the usual puppy exuberance. Unfortunately, my arthritis has been acting up with all the cold and getting him out for exercise has been tough.

The past two days I have taken Bingo over to Jim's to play with Sadie. They have had a blast, although yesterday Sadie wasn't quite as excited to play with him. Of course, Sadie is around 5-6 years old, she's around 45 years old in human years. Bingo is still just a little kid to her and has a three-year old's energy. Still, they had fun.

Bingo will be going to a new foster home today. He needs a family with a lot more energy than we have here. I'm told the new foster family also has another dog for him to annoy. I know Dinky will be glad to see him go. He has been wearing poor Dink out chasing him around the house and bothering him.

I feel bad when I have to let a foster dog go to a new home even though I know it's for the best.  Bingo is a great dog — very smart and lots of fun — he's just too much for old farts like us! He has learned so much here and I know he will learn even more at his new home.

I am supposed to pick up a new foster dog today or tomorrow from Southgate Animal Shelter. "Clyde" is a Min Pin  puppy who is very scared at AC. I'm hoping to pull him today or tomorrow. He is a little cutie and I hope he'll be better with Dink and Muff. He will have to be neutered and have all his shots updated, but I think he'll get along fine. As long as he doesn't harass Dinky, we'll be fine.

Well, gotta go get ready to take Bingo. Have a safe, blessed weekend.

Rev. Claudia and the critters...

The foster puppy was a total maniac yesterday. Like my own Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One minute he was sleeping peacefully, then he was tearing around the house nipping everything he could, including me.

Finally around 8:00 pm, I took him out for a little walk and he finally calmed down. Today, on the other hand, he is sleeping peacefully by my chair as I type this being a total angel. Go figure! In a little while we will be heading out for a doggie playdate. I am hoping it will wear him out enough so I can get some stuff done today. Probably not but one can hope.

Anyways, happy Boxing Day and I hope everyone has a safe, blessed weekend.

Rev. Claudia and the critters...

Right now I'm feeling cold. I think it's just the fact that I feel rather lost today. Arleen is still not home from down south. She left Dannys and went to stay with Keith in North Carolina for a week. And then the big snow storm hit. They were planning on leaving Friday afternoon, but... They are going to try to leave today some time. That means they will probably get here sometime late tonight or tomorrow morning.

I brought home a new foster puppy yesterday after being Santa at PetSmart for Metro. I had fun being Santa but the outfit was hot and scratchy. However, the dogs were adorable and mostly well behaved. I got my picture taken with Muff, Dink and Toots. It came out really well, I think.

If I've said this before, just ignore me. It's been a very long, hard month for Arleen and I and I'm going to be glad to put it (and 2009) behind me and move on. All I can say is if it hadn't been for my pets... well. they have saved my life multiple times over the years. They keep me grounded and remind me what's really important in life.

Bentley is very missed in this house. Even the dogs seem confused about him not being around. I go through periods of being okay and periods of crying and feeling down. Pretty normal I guess. I'm cleaning up the house so I can put up some Christmas decorations.

It's funny, I read all the time about people who demand that Christ be put back in Christ-mas. Yet most scholars don't believe that Jesus' birthday was in December. And neither do I.

Actually, I don't think it matters whether Jesus was born in December or June. The important thing is that Jesus is celebrated every day. So I'm gathering gifts and putting up decorations to honor the light returning to our sky. I try to celebrate Jesus' birth every day of my life.

Have a safe, blessed day.

Rev. Claudia and the critters...

It's been a long, trying month for the Barber family. First, just before Thanksgiving, Arleen's son's wife died very suddenly. It was devastating for all of us. Arleen went down south to be with her boy and has been there every since. Then, the day before Thanksgiving, I had to take Bentley to the vet to let him go. I'm still grieving for him -- we had him for almost 17 years. We got Bentley and his sister Gypsy when they were 5 1/2 week old puppies; we were midwives for his mother. I found out two days later that my nephew Keith died the same day as Bentley.

Add to all that the fact that Dinky seems to be getting worse with his coughing and we have our usual influx of rodents (they come in every year when it starts getting cold), and I'm feeling pretty heavy right now. And I haven't been feeling much like blogging.

There has been some good news though. I did a craft show this past Saturday and finally made a profit (my first this year). I might even have some pawties after the New Year. And I can say right now, I'm definitely ready for a new year!

I am also hoping that the church will be able to find a place to meet and start having regular services again. But no matter what, 2010 has got to be a better year.

Have a safe, blessed day.

Rev. Claudia and the critters... 

It's been a while since I've posted to this (and my other) journals and blogs. Sometimes life gives you lemons and it takes a while to squeeze them for lemonade. I've had a few bumps in my road including a problem with one of the computers, a new full-time job and three deaths in the family (two humans and one dog) . Needless to say, it's been difficult and blogging just wasn't as high on my list as it had been before.

But now the computer is fixed and I'm healing from all the other stuff. Life goes on even if we are sometimes not ready for it. And so I'm back, blogging, journaling, writing articles for my Detroit Dogs Examiner and Hub pages and re-connecting with life.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving  holiday and is looking forward to Christmas . I know I am. For the first time in a few years, we should be able to celebrate a bit, since I now have a full time job to go along with my Petlane and other businesses. I have done a few craft/vendor shows but not as many as in past years. I still have three more to do.

And tomorrow I'm driving a short transport.  It's been a while since I've driven a transport mostly because I only have my poor little Rio and, although I've been know to cram five or six of my own dogs into it, transporting unknown dogs is a little trickier. Tomorrow I will be transporting two senior Greyhounds (and maybe a senior Dachshund) across town. It will be a short, easy way to get back into transporting.

On the day before Thanksgiving, I finally took Bentley to the vet to have him put to sleep . I've had a really tough time with this decision, but my normally 40 pound dog had dropped to 28 pounds and couldn't always stand up. It was a struggle for me but I think Bentley was glad to go to be with Gypsy. As he was losing consciousness, he started wagging his tail.  I think he was saying Hi to Gyps.

And he gave me two great big snores as he left. He's always been a great snorer although in the last few months, he was hardly snoring. I think the snore as he left this world was a final goodbye to me. Later when I was going to sleep, I distinctly heard Bentley bark. I know he was running free with Gypsy, Chena and Tawnee in the sun. The picture I have always used to represent Bentley will be retired from now on.

No more pain for him, but plenty for me. Periodically throughout this holiday weekend, waves of sadness have washed over me.  I miss the crabby old fart and I think the other dogs do too. They are not sure what's happening, but I know they've noticed that Bentley is gone. This is one part of dog ownership I really don't like, along with pooper scooping and cleaning up vomit.

But, again, it's part of being a pet parent and there are plenty of things that make having a pet more than worth it. So I move on with my two girls and little Mr. Dinky. And after this week, it'll just be the four of us. Boog is going home and Scruffy is going home. So it'll just be us four mutt-ska-teers! I think all of us will be relieved and enjoy the peace and quite.

I hope everyone gets home from the Holiday weekend safe and secure and have a blessed week.

Rev. Claudia and the critters...

It's been a long and very busy two weeks. I have gotten a full time job and am now adjusting my blogs, stories, columns, and life in general to going to work every day. It's a challenge after over two years of not having anything to do or anywhere to go. Well, that's not entirely true, but without a full time job, I found myself, IMHO, with "way too much time on my hands," as the old Styx song goes.

The dogs really got used to having me around all the time, and now they're not very happy when I say momma has to go to work. For the first week and a half, Tootsie didn't want to come in for Arleen when she left for Jimmy's. Arleen had to drag her inside. She still gives me the doggie evil eye every morning when I walk out without her.

Arleen and I are still looking for a place to call our own for the Church and a doggie business. It's still in the planning stage and I don't expect anything to get settled until after the New Year, but we're still moving forward on the business/church. I have been working on a business plan and gathering business starting data.

And we are still looking for another place to hold our services. We would like a place with fewer cats around since several of us are allergic. We don't have a problem with cats joining us at our Sunday services, but because of the great work Dunk N Dogs is doing with cat rescue, there are cats around all the time. Thus there is lots of fur and dander around all the time. That has been causing problems for some of our members.

Because we are looking for another place, I haven't been as diligent about promoting the church as maybe I should be. But that's going to change soon. We need more members. So I'm going to begin promoting again in hopes of getting more folks to join us. We really do have fun at our services. And so do the dogs. Come join us some Sunday and see what the barking is all about.

Rev. Claudia and the critters...

Fall weather always gets me thinking and reaching within to more spiritual pasttimes. Indeed, as Winter approaches, the plants and animals go into hibernation and for many of us, our thoughts turn within. And that is as it should be. We all need to have time to reflect, plan, and get in touch with our inner selves. It's time to reflect on our lives and everything we have done and decide whether we are heading in the right direction.

And with all the financial problems the world has been having, it's time to think again about what's really important in our lives and families. The one good thing coming from this economic downturn is the fact that many of us are learning what is really important in our lives. Many of us are learning to live with less -- less money, fewer things, less exterior wealth. And we are learning what we really have, who we can depend on, and what we really need to be happy. I hope that we can carry that forward as the economy improves. I hope that this new-found awareness will stay with us in the future. Maybe we won't have some of these problems again.

But I am also aware that some in this country are already doing things "the way they've always been done." They are trying to get things back to where they were before. IMHO, going back is never a good way. It's always best to move forward. In order for the world to heal economically, we need to move forward with courage and confidence into this strange new place. We need to change our thinking and our way of life and embrace the new, the change. If we can do that, perhaps we can grow from this experience and, I believe the world will be a better place.

Rev. Claudia and the critters...

There were only two of us at yesterday’s church service. It was very disappointing and a little depressing. As I was driving over to the dog park afterwards, I remembered a talk my mentor, Jack Boland, gave many years ago. The talk was about how to achieve your goals and the process you need to go through.

 

As Jack said, there are three forces that you need to work with (or against) in order to reach that goal. The first, which Jack called “First Force,” is the one that pushes you to make the goal and start doing what needs to be done to achieve it. You make plans, list goals, get what you need, etc. First Force fills you with excitement and enthusiasm for the path you have chosen and your feet and fingers fly through the tasks.

 

But gradually, “Second Force” takes over. Things don’t go as planned. You run into stumbling blocks and misunderstandings. Things are just not working out as well as you thought. And your once enthusiastic friends and family are telling you that you made a mistake and you should just give up. To make matters worse, you are beginning to agree with them. You just want to give up in the face of all the problems. As Jack said, most people do give up when Second Force hits. They decide they just don’t have what it takes and their family is probably right.

 

But if they just hang in there and keep working, they will finally see “Third Force.” Third Force is when everything falls into place and you reach your goal. It is not an ending, but a beginning. You’ve made it through the tough times and have finally gotten what you wanted.

 

Right now, I’m facing Second Force with the church and dog-related business. Some days, I just want to give up and quit this whole thing. After all, I can always do what I've always done. Why change careers now? And so on and so on. But each time these words run through my mind, Jack’s words come back to remind me what I’m working for and how to reach the goal.

 

So if you’re also working toward a goal and finding it difficult to go on, remember Second Force and how it will work to prevent you from reaching your goals. Don’t let Second Force cause you to quit. I won’t. I will continue to work towards the goal of having a viable and energetic church of pet lovers like me. I believe that I need to work with pets and their people and I intend to do so.

So keep those goals in front of you and keep plugging away. Soon Second Force will give way to Third Force and you will achieve your goal.

Rev. Claudia and the critters...