Danger. Pay attention.

I know.  I said I wouldn’t write any more about the puppy, but you know he provides such great business/life lessons, that I couldn’t resist sharing this one.

He’s a handsome fellow, now a year old, completely trained and knows the rules. Because he’s been so good at sticking to his “territory” we’d taken to shooing him outside when he needed to go.  And in the cold weather, we were more than happy with this routine. He would go outside and bark when he wanted in.

All was well.  Until Tuesday.  When he decided to explore and visit our new cows, ten of them, and the bull.  He thought it would be fun and games as he played in their field, darting in between, getting them to chase him.  My heart was in my mouth as I watched him, thinking just one kick from the bull and it could be game over.  No matter how much we called him, he ignored us. He was having way too much fun, not realizing the danger he was in.  Eventually he came out.

But we are watching him like a hawk again.  Putting him on a leash so we can keep close tabs on him.

To me, it illustrates that no matter how much we trust people, and you think they know the rules of the game, you can’t just assume all is OK.  You have to keep your eye on the ball – be it staff, clients or competition.  Just because something appears all right, well, maybe it’s not.

Now, I am not suggesting we all get paranoid about schemes, plots and theft – more that we can’t afford to get complacent.  We can’t afford to ignore small signs, red flags that make you suspicious.  We can’t assume that others will behave the way we would.  Sadly not everyone works with integrity.  So listen to those nagging doubts, they may be telling you something.

As for Brodie – his little frolic in the field has cost him.  He needs to earn back our trust that he will stick within the boundaries of “his space.”  Until then, we’re watching. You could say, like a teenager caught breaking a curfew, he’s grounded. 

And I suspect, it is going to be a l-o-n-g summer. 

A SALUTE TO SOPHIE

It’s been a sad week here for us at the office where my dogs are part of the fixtures and fittings. We had to say goodbye to our friend Sophie, a ten-year-old English Setter.

Sophie was always the first to greet visitors when they arrived. She would smile – really – dance enthusiastically and bark her welcome. We didn’t need a doorbell with her around.

Making these life and death decisions is hard, and this was sudden. One day she was fine and the next she was showing signs that she was sick, very sick. As we waited for the results, the debate began on what to do if the news was bad. And it was.

We were actually her third owners so she had only been with us for five years, but we loved her from day one. We already had an English Setter, Henry, when we “adopted” her and they looked so alike people were sure they were brother and sister.

And even though she was younger, smaller and a girl, she was the boss. Henry very quickly learned to do as he was told. Yes, likely we could have all taken some lessons from Sophie on how to handle the male species. She wasn’t afraid to stake her claim or get what she wanted but she was a very loving dog who just loved to sit with her head on your lap, looking up at you with her doleful eyes.

We will miss her.

Tough Decisions

Do you have pets? As many of you know, we have two dogs who come to work with me every day.

Last week we faced a tough decision – Sophie, the younger dog, was sick and we either went with expensive surgery which may or may not work, or we put her down.

As we weighed up the odds, it struck me that this type of decision is somewhat like the ones being faced by business owners across Canada. Do we let staff go or do keep everyone on and run the risk of not making it? Do we close down one office in order to save the rest? Business owners have to do the math, weigh up the pros and cons of their decision, and in some cases may well decide to cut their losses, and close their business.

It’s not easy. I always remember Cora – of Cora’s Breakfast and Lunch, telling us that she made decisions with “her head and heart” sitting side by side on the sofa. Good advice.

What did we decide? Well, the heart won over the head and next week she goes for surgery. At the end of the day, we decided that we owed her that, and if it doesn’t work, we know we’ve done our best by her.

Tomato Juice Anyone?

I’ve been saying it a lot lately, but I really should read and pay heed to the articles I have been writing – particularly the one on going with the flow and being flexible.

Can you tell I have had a tough day dealing with the unexpected? In July we moved into the country and I think I have done really well coping with snakes in the bathroom, bats in the house. I’ve accepted that mice are just a part of country living and will always co-habit with you.

So what caught me off guard? I can’t even claim that it is only a rural phenomena, but one of our dogs got sprayed by a skunk. I was leaving for work at the time and so I bundled the dogs into the car and headed off to the office. Now it is 50 minutes door to door, not a long drive usually, but with a dog in the back reeking of skunk, I can tell you it seemed a very, very long way.

After advice from different sources, we decided to skip the tomato juice and went straight to the Skunk Off. Now it took three of us to tackle this job – fortunately my son-in-law was around and we looked a pretty picture in the back yard, wearing old clothes and armed with yellow plastic gloves and old towels, all holding the dog down as we sprayed and washed him with the solution.

Completely off his stride, the only way to calm Henry down (the dog, not the son-in-law) was to keep him in my office – door closed of course, so that the ‘eau de skunk’ didn’t totally permeate the place. And there we were all afternoon, my smelly friend and I. Amazingly, after a while I didn’t even notice the odour but maybe that’s because I was beginning to smell too! As I found at my dance class a few hours later. I was definitely not good to know.

And I definitely didn’t get too far in my “to do” list but I guess tomorrow is another day, and hopefully one without stinky dogs! Maybe next time, I’ll just make myself a Bloody Mary with the tomato juice, and all will be well.