Do you wish you had more courage?

I’m pretty courageous now but I remember when I was just a little puppy how big, sudden sounds scared me. I got more courage and you can too.

The more days you live, the more different experiences you have, the more courage you’ll develop. Part of courage is the w...

Is your hospital having a stressful day?

I do now and then, especially when I find something fun to chew on and mom loses her mind!

Sometimes it feels like everyone is a gas can and you’re all waiting for someone to toss a match, right? That’s a terrible way to feel and a worse way to try to care ...

When something is hard, do you give up or do you let go?

Those may sound like the same things but there’s a vast difference. When you give up you usually feel defeated and deflated – you’ve given it your best and you’ve been bested. That’s not a powerful or successful way to feel.

Instead, try let...

Do you do the same exercise routine over and over and over?

Mom got me a treadmill…boooooooring! There aren’t any squirrels to chase…that would make it fun!

Anyway, if you do the same workout every time your body will get used to it and it won’t be as effective. The good news is that you can proba...

Do you ever beat yourself up for taking shortcuts?

Maybe you didn’t feel like cooking and picked up a rotisserie chicken and a couple of ready-to-eat side dishes? Mmmmmmm…chiiiicken…can I come over for dinner?

Seriously, you work hard, so if that little voice in your head is saying you’re a bad mo...

When was the last time you had a pedicure?

To be honest, I don’t get why humans love those things so much…I hate it when Mom grinds my nails and cuts the hair between my toes…ugh!!

For most humans pedicures are seen as luxuries – you don’t treat yourself to one very often because it might feel sel...

Do you keep a journal?

I did once – Mom chased me all around the house trying to get it out of my mouth. She likes to write in it each morning and I just wanted to see what was so special about it…sheesh!

If you ever sit down to write about what you’re grateful for and nothing pops up, it’s not be...

Do you ever feel like a situation is hopeless? That’s a bad way to feel, isn’t it?

Kinda like when my favorite squeaky ball rolls under the couch – it feels like nothing I can do will get it back out. Like magic, though, it always reappears somewhere I can get it and squeak it and throw it in the a...

Is there a song with lyrics that inspire you?

Mom named me after the Kacey Musgraves song, Follow Your Arrow. It’s a song that talks about how other people will judge you, no matter what you do, so you might as well do what makes you happy.

Was there ever a time in your life where you realized tha...

Are you surrounded by strong people or weak ones?

A great way to discover the answer is to hear how they talk to others. Strong people offer uplifting comments, offer help in a non-condescending way and talk well about their colleagues even when they’re not around. Weak people gossip, tattle-tale a...

Do you get irritated at other drivers when you’re driving?

I look out the window and sometimes see the driver in the car beside us yelling and pounding on his steering wheel. Scary – glad mom doesn’t do that!!

Humans take things so personally sometimes – if you get mad at other drivers, you might ...

What does success look like to you?

To me it would be a total takedown of my new big brother the Standard Poodle…he’s so tall I haven’t figured out how to wrestle him to the ground yet!

Think about it…what does success look like to you?

You can let your mind play with that idea or if you know exa...

Do you sometimes compare yourself or your life against someone else’s?

Sometimes I look at that orange cat and think about how it would be to be that free…I could just runandrunandrun! And then I remember the yummy food and cookies that Mom gives me…mmmmmmmmm!

When you compare yourself against som...

Do you have a habit you want to break? It’s ok…sometimes I forget and play too rough in the house. I’ve gotta remember to stop doing that before I break something!

Everyone has bad habits and when you understand neuroplasticity concepts you’ll understand two things about them – why they’re hard to ...

Does your morning wear you out before you even get to the hospital? If you have family, you’re probably care-taking for them – clothes, school bags, lunches, homework – while trying to make coffee and breakfast and get yourself ready too. Exhausting!!

Think about the pieces of your morning routine ...

Do you pay attention to intentions? Mom calls me Butterfly Brain so I guess that means I don’t pay attention to much at all sometimes.

Paying attention to intentions is easy though – in the evening, as you’re finishing up dinner dishes or whatever, think about the next day. Make one intention that’...

Is your motivation lagging a little bit today?

A great way to get your mojo back is to think back to times when you’ve nailed it – whatever IT is that’s demotivating you. Remember when you first learned IT, when you finally mastered IT and when you helped teach IT to someone else.

You’re aces at I...

Did you know that your brain can’t tell the difference between what you’re thinking and what you’re living? Brains don’t know reality, and for proof of that, let’s talk about a famous canine – Pavlov’s dog.

That guy Pavlov teased his dog a lot, using people in lab coats, metronomes and bells to tri...

What new thing are you learning? Does it excite you?

I love to learn new things – mom says I’m a fast learner with a short attention span. Someday I’ll learn what she means by that.

Anyway, learning is great – it keeps you focused and fascinated. In your work you probably learn something new prett...

Is life feeling a little bit chaotic today? Mom got me a Standard Poodle to play with – man is he tall!! And he doesn’t want to play the way I want to play and sometimes snapping happens.

Oooooh…did I hit a nerve there?

If there’s chaos in your hospital today and people are snapping at each other,...

Do you feel tense right now? I get tense sometimes when I’m holding really still, trying to sneak up on that big orange cat that gets in my yard. Grrrrrrr…cats!

You probably just think you get tense in your shoulders and neck but I bet your jaws are clenched when you’re tense, too. A quick way to b...

Exercise…who has time for that? I have naps to take and you probably have a lot of work to do. But exercise is necessary to keep our bodies and minds healthy, so here’s an idea to get a great workout in only ten minutes – high intensity interval training.

Pick a 10-minute part of your day when you ...

Did you ever hear that phrase, dress for success?

When I go to the dog show, I have a special collar and lead that Mom puts on me that make me feel special. What does dress for success even mean in a world where you wear scrubs all day? It means that you should wear clothes that make you feel power...

Great relationships – like great marriages – happen because people choose where to focus. People get along for a while and then they start noticing things they don’t like. Instead of focusing on what they do like, they get fixated on what they don’t like. Before you know it, feuds are happening on t...

Don’t fight change.

Well, actually, it’s good not to fight about anything if you can help it – fighting just gets you a bite on the nose from some mean dog that can’t take a joke!

Seriously, change is the one constant in this world – it’s funny that humans hate it so much. Everything changes and c...

If I have to make one more decision today I’m gonna snap!! Do you ever feel that way, too? Squeaky ball or bungee snake? Nap in the crate, on the kitchen tile floor or on the couch? Sheesh…so many things to decide!

Decision fatigue is a thing – really! I’ve heard Mom tell people about how decisions...

Do you have a staffer in your hospital who’s a bully? Sadly, that’s very common in veterinary hospitals and is very destructive for morale.

It’s like when mom and I go to the park for a walk and that big border collie stares at me really hard – it makes me nervous and it’s hard to concentrate. That...

Some days do you feel unappreciated? Who knew mom would be so upset when I brought her that pretty red leather shoe. I only chewed it a little bit and I did give it to her…sheesh, you’d think I started world war three or something!

Anyway, if you’re feeling unappreciated too, give yourself a little...

Are you an adapter or a leader?

Adapters are chameleons – they scope out the lay of the land and blend in. Leaders scope out the lay of the land, see what needs doing and set about doing it. That’s why you often hear people say that certain leaders have great vision – they’re on the lookout for way...

What new thing are you learning? Does it excite you? I love to learn new things – mom says I’m a fast learner with a short attention span. Someday I’ll learn what she means by that. Anyway, learning is great – it keeps you focused and fascinated.

In your work you probably learn something new pretty...

Look around your workplace – are you there? If you looked around my place you’d see stuffed toys, a hard rubber chew or two and you’d know I’m a dog that loves toys. When people look around your workplace do they know what you love?

If you love kayaking, do they see pictures of rivers you’ve been o...

Aren’t smiles cool? Even us dogs smile and humans know just what we mean when we do. Mom knew a dog a loooong time ago who squinted like crazy when she smiled – she used her whole face!

Do you use your whole face when you smile? You know you do when those little muscles at the outside of your eyes ...

Do you take all the days off that you’re entitled to? This is something I don’t understand about humans at all – most of you don’t take all your vacation days!! Yes, what you do is very important work. Yes, you love what you do and it’s a calling and most of the time it feeds your soul.

You know wh...

What is that voice inside your head telling you about yourself? And if you just thought, I don’t have a little voice inside my head, that was the voice inside your head talking!

Most humans got programmed early to believe bad things about themselves – that they can’t do things right, they’re not sm...

Have you heard people talk about the power of being in the moment? What does that even mean? Shhhhh…here’s a secret…it means being more like me! OK, pretty much all dogs and cats and gerbils and goldfish live in the moment. We are good at it and you can be, too.

Instead of letting your brain chew o...

Want a brain trick that’ll help you solve problems and be happier? When something looks like it’s going wrong, find three good things about it.

Let’s pretend I was riding in the car and someone hit us from behind. That’s not good – that’s the way I get in and out of the car, so can I get out or am ...

Do you hold grudges against people, or find it hard to forgive someone? I admit I’m pretty annoyed that the big orange cat can jump up on the fence way faster than I can run across the yard. Grrrrrrr….cats!!!

The cat doesn’t care that I’m annoyed with him, though – he probably doesn’t even know, an...

Do you feel powerless sometimes? I do, especially now that Mom got a more secure crate for me. Escape just one time and it’s Fort Knox!! If you’re feeling powerless, think about the words you use. When something goes wrong, do you make excuses or do you own your part of the mishap and move on? Every...

Sometimes questions are no fun, right? Like when Mom says "Who Did That???" Somehow, it’s always my fault. There’s a good question you could ask yourself when it feels like something has gone wrong – "how would it feel if I knew it would all work out?" When you think about the possibilities it keeps...

Did you know that the way you breathe might be making you anxious? When I pant it cools me down – when humans pant, their brain thinks something is wrong. When humans are stressed they take shallow, fast breaths and that tells the primitive part of their brain that it’s time to fire up the fight or ...

Did you know that it’s OK to be sad or mad or frustrated or even to cry? I’ve noticed that some humans think they have to be calm and happy and positive all the time. Those are good ways to feel and the other ways are normal, too. It’s OK to feel sad or mad or frustrated or to cry – it’s part of bei...

Are you feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place? I got stuck behind the couch once so I can relate – scary!! If that’s how you’re feeling today, you could just whine and howl like I did, or you could do something I can’t – let your brain go time-traveling. Look at your options and pick one, th...

Everybody has that one friend – you know, the one who tells you about their life, even the embarrassing parts? They’re so open with you because they trust you – a lot! You know what? When you have something embarrassing or confusing or sad going on in your life, you can probably trust them, too. We ...