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Society has labeled me as a  “dog trainer” for 12 years now. Yesterday, I had an appointment with a new client. As I entered the home, an uneasiness overwhelmed me as my eyes noticed an adorable 4-month old American Bulldog puppy. What problem does this dog have that is hanging over the owners like a black cloud? As we sat and talked in the living room, their non-verbal, autistic child entered the ro

Having been unemployed for 10 months, I learned some simple lessons that I think are worthy of sharing. Here they are: 1. A skilled and experienced instructor does not equate to being a good teacher. 2. Sometimes, a struggling student has an inexperienced, unskilled, or ineffective teacher, or a combination of those qualities. 3. A good teacher is always a good student too. 4. Sometimes, we are better off redire

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone and is credited for this gem of a phrase: “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Oftentimes, we consider a door closing as an action that was brought upon us by someone else. For example: “They chose somebody else.” “They decid

but I finally used the knowledge I gained from two years of high school Latin. Yes, Latin. Semper Fidelis, verbatim, vice versa, magna cum laude, pro bono, per diem, fac simile, bona fide, et cetera (etc.) These are great examples of how Latin is omnipresent (another e.g. – exempli gratia.) So you see, Latin is a part of our everyday lives but I am not writing this post to elaborate on the virtues of a “d

“Hi. My name is John Doe. Who are you?” “I’m Jane Smith. I’m an accountant with XYZ company.” “It’s nice to meet you, Jane. I’m a marketing assistant with XYZ company. You must be on the 4th floor. I’m on the second floor.” I’m sure you have experienced something like this a few times throughout your life. How often do we answer the question, 

My task, I assumed, would be simple: “Trim Bushes.” At first sight and from a distance my job appeared to be easy because I didn’t see what lied beneath the surface. Upon closer inspection, an invasive and undesirable Bittersweet vine had entrenched itself within an old, established, and healthy Juniper bush. In time, the parasitic vine would have grown thicker and killed the bush. The bush needed h

Over the past few days, I have spent a considerable amount of time catching up with an old friend. He was my best friend when I was a child, and then as I grew older, we grew apart. I reunited with him briefly in my mid-20s and in light of the life-changing year I had in 2014, I decided to look him up again. I am talking about Winnie The Pooh. Yes. I consider him as my friend! As a young boy, I was all about the lova

Today is Halloween. A day when children are generously rewarded, with lots of candy, for their costumes and playing make-believe. During this season, adults dress-up in outlandish outfits and have a fun day at the office, attend parties, or go to a bar. The rewards are different for adults: maybe a day off, a cash prize, or a free drink. Halloween is a season of walking through haunted houses or corn mazes and watchi

Questions are like an annoying tickle in your throat that just won’t go away. And the answers, like remedies, are hit or miss. I’ve tried nose sprays to stop the post-nasal drip. Hot tea with lemon and honey (I tried it with whiskey once. Yuck!) Cough drops. Expectorants. Suppressants. Yet, the irritation of an unproductive cough still lingers. And so it is with the questions that I have. They hang around

As I sit on a large rock in my backyard, I am waiting for my muse to make her presence known. I hear two birds conversing in a tree behind me. Their vocabulary is limited to five syllables, repeated over and again. “Chick-a-dee-dee-dee.” In a nearby lilac tree sit two Black-Capped Chickadees, next to an empty bird feeder. I take a break from cursing writer’s block to re-fill the feeder. I say with a