The Pupster was crazed this morning. Pulling on the bedspread. Chewing on my sock. Biting my yoga mat. Jumping on the table. Barking at squirrels. Barking at trucks. Barking at me! And through it all, I breathe and tried to re-center while I answered email, prepped for my 10 o’clock call, cooked oatmeal. But Gracie  wasn’t calmed. Neither was I.

I tried to distract her by tossing the orange ball. The short red ropey toy. The long pink and black ropey toy. The  squeaky toy. The deer antler that we just spent $15 on. Nothing worked for more than a couple of minutes. Then I barked at David… LOUDLY: “I’ve got a 10 o’clock. She needs to get her ya-yas out. Take her for a run. Now!”

Ahhhhh… they’re gone now. My call went well. The living is quiet. All I hear is the bubbling of the fish tank filter. Life is good. I feel so much kinder and more respectful. I will show them when they come back. Hopefully not too soon.

Check out Day 9 of The Kindness and Respect Challenge