the versatile blogger award: we got it!

After looking longingly at others' Versatile Blogger Award badges, I was awarded one for my recent ThunderShirt posts, so kindly, by We Live in a Flat, one of my favorite dog blogs! We Live in a Flat follows the adventures of Donna, a rescued pup who lives in Singapore. Great writing and wonderful images...thank you, We Live in a Flat! I would like to nominate the following blogs for their excellency and appeal to, well, ME! Love and the Versatile Blogger Award, in no particular order and with no obligation, lest I irritate you, go to:

veggie 4 a year for luscious vegan recipes and activism, helping me though my own transition

No Dog About it Blog for insightful tips and sentiment

Adventures at Run a Muck Ranch for making me feel like my dog chaos could be worse with sweet, candid stories

The War in My Brain for bravery

Love and a Six-Foot Leash for gorgeous photos of gorgeous dogs and a wonderful parenting philosophy

Brie Brie Blooms for creativity

Pawsitively Pets for being so dedicated to all things animal

101 Books for being intelligent and keeping it real in a single bound

Oz the Terrier for informative cuteness

My Brown Newfies & Me for writing with true versatility about a seemingly narrow topic...I'm always coming back for more

Why We Love Green for great tips on how to go green while saving green

Sugar the Golden Retriever for awesome tips and insight...and who doesn't love a golden?

Jen Hatmaker for making me laugh harder than I can remember laughing in a long, long time. If you haven't read her viral post Worst End of School Year Mom Ever, you must. NOW.

Nature Moms Blog for great green mama info that I actually use

my.blind.world. for unflinching honesty

Should you accept your award (you are under NO obligation to do so), you're in for a bit of work, but it's not painful. Versatile Blogger award rules:

•  Thank the person who gave you this award.
•  Include a link to their blog.
•  Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
•  Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
•  Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Seven things about me...

• We have a sulcata tortoise. I just haven't blogged about him, yet.

• I have three tattoos. One for each of my kids.

• One of the main reasons I love being a pet sitter is that it keeps me from having too many animals, myself.

• Our dog, Kermit, who passed away almost two years ago, had Addison's Disease and seizures. I haven't blogged about him, yet, either.

• I have a scar on my right hand from a overly-boisterous game of fetch with a dog client. My hand went up and her fang came down. Accidental puncture all the way to the root of the tooth. This happened exactly on the one-year anniversary of breaking three fingers on my other hand.

• I kiss all animals on the lips.

• I don't really like listing "things" about myself.

Congratulations to the newest recipients of The Versatile Blogger award! I can't wait to read your posts.

big tipper: my haul from Farmyard

Aren't big tips just the greatest? As the owner of Well Minded, I don't always get a gratuity, but I sure appreciate it when I do. Today I got an awesome tip from a client who is also a friend. She is away for a while, and I'm caring for her dogs, so she was unable to pick up her CSA basket from Farmyard today. Instead, she gave it to me as a tip, and I couldn't be happier about it! I've had the pleasure of testing out some of the gorgeous produce from Farmyard before, as my client friend can't always consume all she receives, but I've never had a whole basket, so I'm quite excited, and already planning what to make with it for the next few days.

I was provided an address and a Farmyard tote to return when picking up this week's haul.

Although I needed my navigation system to find the neighborhood, once I got there, the house was unmistakable. The front yard presented rows of tomatoes, lettuce, squash, and the like. When I pulled up, it was something out of a Norman Rockwell Painting, only modern. Rebecca waived and greeted me warmly. She knew who I was, even though we'd never met. She was collecting some small yellow tomatoes from the garden, and her bucket was overflowing, literally, so I followed behind, picking up the dropped tomatoes that trailed behind her.

She invited me into her home, where her big yellow lab lumbered a welcome just as warm. Rebecca took my tote and handed me a fresh one full of her garden's bounty. It included a bunch of sorrel, some giant zucchini, cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, a variety of small tomatoes, two jalapeños, some garlic, a bunch of apples, and a dozen eggs. Gorgeous! Rebecca explained what I was receiving and even provided a recipe for using the sorrel, something I've honestly never cooked with. I'm excited to try it!

I am especially impressed with the eggs. As a verging-upon vegan individual who loves her eggs, it makes me feel better about falling off the wagon when I know they come from happy, healthy, pampered chickens, which is the case with Farmyard. We've considered getting our own chickens because they make great pets and provide eggs, but haven't taken the plunge quite, yet. I love caring for my clients' chickens, and often get tipped in eggs, Little House on the Prairie-style.

The kids just loved the jewel-toned eggs and couldn't keep their hands off of them. They are beautiful.

As I started the car, Porter chomped into a freshly picked apple, which was satisfying to us both.

What a wonderful first experience we had at Farmyard. We've been considering signing up for a CSA for quite some time, and this might be just the thing to send us over the edge!

the big, bad world: enter, ThunderShirt, part 2 (Jack)

After learning how great the ThunderShirt worked for Rex, I had to see for myself. Since my own pooch is anxiety-free unless a butterfly tries to invade the garden, I recruited a helper. My mother-in-law has one of the most anxious dogs I know. Jack is a four-year-old Queensland Heeler/Short-haired Pointer mix with a difficult past. After being abandoned in a shelter as a pup, he was adopted and abused. He found a new, safer, happier home, but his high energy became a problem for another dog in the house who was suffering with health issues. In addition, gardeners at a neighboring home would tease him with their blowers through an open fence. It just wasn't a good fit.

Jack finally found his forever home with Tena, who has given him both loving comfort and solid training. She's spent hours with him in obedience school and has discovered that he's quite brainy. He passed with flying colors. But, like Rex, though Jack can behave, he still suffers from anxiety.

Tena explained,

"Jack is the most loyal, loving, wonderful house dog I have ever had, but his frantic running back and forth along my fence line with incessant, loud barking every time a gardener is in the neighboring yard is a huge problem."

Since Tena's property borders a condo complex that requires a lot of maintenance, this gardening occurs four days a week. Soon after Jack arrived at his new home, neighbors started to complain. Tena knew something had to be done, both for the neighbors and for Jack. And for her own sanity.

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I suggested the ThunderShirt to Tena because I'd heard great things about it. She was skeptical, naturally, as anyone would be of a daughter-in-law who frequently comes up with hair-brained plans to save animals. Even after I had the ThunderShirt sent to her house, she was hesitant. "I was a doubter," she now admits. I finally convinced her to give it a shot. "To get Jack used to (the ThunderShirt), I put it next to his blanket on the couch and in the laundry basket with my clothes," she reported.

Then it got real.

The next door neighbor began mowing his lawn, and Jack exploded into a barking rage. Tena managed to get Jack inside. She put on the ThunderShirt, admittedly too loose. Jack was so out of control that it was extremely difficult to get the shirt on. Still, "Jack immediately calmed down. He stopped panting and pacing and just laid down," Tena said.

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The next time the gardeners came, Tena did a better job of getting the ThunderShirt on, fitting it snugly, as instructed. Tena was amazed:

"Jack went to sleep! When he woke up, I let him outside, and the gardner was still working. Jack barked about two times, then came right back in. I am so impressed! I never thought there would be a solution to this problem."

Testing fate, the next time the gardeners came, Tena decided to put the shirt on Jack, then take it off a few minutes later. "He went back to panting and pacing!"

Tena plans to keep using the shirt in times of high-anxiety for Jack. I'm looking forward to hearing more about it, and now that I'm convinced that the ThunderShirt really works, I'm curious as to how it works. Stay tuned.

Bonus in all of this: Perhaps Tena will subscribe to more of my hair-brained schemes in the future.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ThunderShirt in exchange for my honest opinion.

keeping it small: size matters to me

When I started pet sitting full time, I initially tried any advertising I could think of. In order to build an initial client base, I threw lots of time and money down every conceivable avenue, only to receive very little in return. I learned quickly that networking and building relationships in the community was the fastest and best way to build my client base. Though we're always accepting new clients, we're now a manageable size, considering it's basically just myself and one other sitter. I prefer to keep it small because, well, let's be real: I'm a control freak. That, and I love the fact that I know each of my clients very well. They are almost like family. We partner with our clients to make sure their pets get the best care. Many of our clients have been with us since the beginning in 2005, and we're so grateful to have these relationships that often last through multiple "generations" of pets.

We now build our business primarily from client and community referrals, which is the best way to go for us. Just as our clients want to have the best pet sitter in all the land, we want to have the most awesome clients. By gaining new clients through referrals and spending time in the community, we can more readily trust that this will be the case, and they usually feel very comfortable knowing that a trusted source has said we're the best.

Because we value referrals so highly, we offer our clients an ongoing, graduated referral reward that gets better each time the referred client uses our services. Our client who is kind enough to refer to us gets rewarded over and over! It's been a great success for us, and it's a good feeling to know that we can say thank you to those who spread the word about Well Minded.

Growing our business this way allows us to create a family bond with our clients. I love that when a client's name pops up on my phone, I know exactly who they are and who their pets are. Size does matter. And we prefer to keep it small.

debating the hunt with Greg (part 1): a different world

I pride myself on loving and accepting my family and friends, even if I don't agree with what they do. They extend me the same courtesy, and the result is that we can have educated respectful conversations about nearly anything, and we both come out smarter for it. I don't make public statements on social media about my leanings. I prefer to save those conversations for people (or blog followers) I can speak to "live," and not throw punches in the dark. Let me introduce you to my brother-in-law, Greg, who is an avid hunter and fisherman. Let me introduce you to Greg, whom I love and respect despite this fact. He is one of those people whom I have been able to have these intimate conversations with. You see, as a person heading toward a completely vegan lifestyle, and as a person who has never shot a gun and who has no desire to even catch-and-release, for fear I poked a bloody hole in the mouth of a sea-creature, and may have done psychological damage to said fish, I can't quite relate to Greg on this matter. With part a tone of conviction, and part solid facts and foundations, he has somehow presented to me on several occasions that hunting is okay–for him.

I was a little girl who would order ciopinnio in a restaurant and bring most of it home in a doggie bag, only to attempt resuscitation and give freedom to the in-tact animals in a bowl of water once I got home. They received names. And then were promptly eaten by the cat as soon as I went to bed. Or perhaps they were fed to the cat...hmmm...

Greg and I are one and not the same.

I met my husband's brother when he was sixteen, early on in his hunting and fishing endeavors. He first became interested in waterfowl and upland game bird hunting during his sophomore year in high school. He did not come from this background (so hopefully genes have been spared), but was introduced to it by a schoolmate, Lorenzo. Having completed a hunter education class at the age of fifteen, Greg purchased his first State of California Hunting License. He continued to gain more knowledge and interest, then went on his first waterfowl hunt with Lorenzo and Lorenzo's father.

"After going on just one hunt, I knew this was something I wanted to do every season and would need the appropriate gear to do so (waders, decoys, gun, and dog)," Greg said. His parents allowed him to purchase his first shotgun at age seventeen, with money he saved from working. At the same time, Greg purchased (another point of contention that I understand but don't agree with) his first hunting dog, Ruger, a male black lab. As a high school graduation gift from his parents, Greg received a season-long duck blind lease.

Greg completed his first duck season with Ruger and "found a new appreciation for the sport after watching the dog (I had) trained perform in the field." Greg and Ruger continued to hunt successfully together until 2011, when Ruger developed a brain tumor, declined quickly, and had to be euthanized.

First hand, I know Ruger was not just a hunting dog, but an amazing companion for the whole family. We were all heartbroken when he succumbed to his tumor. My favorite memory of Ruger is when Greg left him in my care and I dressed him in a pink shirt and hair bow, took pictures, and gave one to Greg. It was my silent protest to their manly ways. Although Greg would dispute the fact, Ruger loved the temporary makeover.

I have to admit that although I may not agree with the actual hunting, what I've witnessed from Greg in terms of dog training is quite impressive. I can understand how training a dog to have restraint in the moment so as not to alert prey, then follow commands and retrieve and preserve the kill is something to be commended in terms of skill.

I asked Greg why he initially loved hunting:

"What sparked my interest about duck hunting, in particular, was that it was very challenging. First, you have to sound like a duck...some might think blowing a duck call is easy, (but) it takes years to master. A duck call is essentially a woodwind instrument that reacts to air pressure, the aperture of your mouth, and the movement of your tongue to create notes and tones that sound like a real duck. There is verbal communication between the hunter and the ducks. Being proficient at duck calling is a real talent.

I also fell in love with the fact that most duck hunting takes place early in the morning. Most hunters are in the duck blind well before the sun is up. You really get to experience nature wake up as the sun rises and everything begins to move about. I have always loved anything that involves being outdoors.

Once I acquired and trained my first hunting dog, Ruger, I was able to experience a whole new appreciation and passion for hunting. Watching your dog perform in the field is the equivalent of watching your children compete at sports. When they perform well, it makes you proud. It is amazing how much natural instinct and drive hunting dogs have. They LOVE to be out in the field hunting. Literally, they were bred for it. I can remember times when Ruger would see me loading up the truck the night before we were going hunting, and he would jump in the truck and refuse to get out. He did not want to get left behind."

It sounds so romantic when Greg describes it, I almost forget he's shooting down magnificent creatures. But then I snap back into my own reality and ask why. Why shoot animals? Why not skeet shooting? He explains,

"Skeet shooting is challenging in the aspect that it does take skill to hit a moving target, but it could never provide all of the tangible and intangible aspects hunting can provide. You could never learn to master the art of calling skeet, and I am not sure what dog would want to retrieve broken shards of clay skeet targets. Skeet shooting is a fun and enjoyable sport, but, in my opinion, it does not compare to hunting."

Point taken, but I, personally, still don't get it. Killing animals for sport? Yes, they clean and eat their own haul, so it doesn't go to "waste," per se. It's hard for me to swallow (no pun intended) the loss of life.

So, I respectfully have more questions for Greg. Do you?