Here is just a snippet of what we discussed and some things I wish I had the time to discuss in more detail. And by more time, I mean “I wish my nerves weren’t a complete mess so that my brain could do its job”.

Karen Pryor Academy got a shout out

The Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior got some air time – which is amazing. If you’re looking for a trainer in your area that is backed by Karen Pryor herself, start here.

The first caller’s question was about destructive chewing and what seems like a never ending supply of energy. There are so many ways to answer this question, so I’m not going to rehash what we already talked about in the show. But I will add:

-there is always an adjustment period when a dog finds himself in a new home. Allowing your dog to use this time to adapt is a good first step.

-understand the common reasons dogs chew: boredom, stress, and illness. Identifying the reason can help you determine how to solve the behavior.

-supervision is key! A dog that is supervised every time they are out of their crate has less of a chance of getting into trouble.

Only in the world of dog are materials like wood, leather and metal equivalent to gold.

If you don’t want your Jimme Choo’s chewed, make sure your dog has limited access to them.

The second caller asked about training a reliable recall in the face of distractions.

The second caller laid it out there: he knows that recalls take time. But what are some tricks he can try to ensure that his boxer has a solid recall when there are new people to meet?

-We suggested using Premack‘s principle. With Premack, you are teaching the dog that if they come back to you (something that’s less likely to happen), they are rewarded with greeting people (something that’s VERY likely to happen).

-Work where your dog is successful. If you know that your dog isn’t going to come back to you when there is a person 10 feet away, work 20 or even 30 feet away. It’s important to work where your dog cannot fail.

-Even if your dog isn’t sensitive to certain foods as the caller’s boxer is, remember that reinforcement is anything your dog wants. That’s a powerful tool: understanding what makes your dog want to perform a behavior because they know the reward. If your dog would rather greet people than eat kibble, then by all means – use the more powerful reinforcer!

DIY Dog Training vs. Professional Dog Training

It might sound bias for me to suggest that folks hire a professional dog trainer. But when you do your research and find a trainer that uses positive reinforcement and has a solid track record working with clients, it could make a huge difference in your dog’s training.

Good professional dog trainers also have access to a strong network of colleagues: veterinarians, researchers, trainers, specialists – this network is important to you and your dog specifically. Without these folks collaborating, many wouldn’t hear about specific cases that may be helpful in the future. I’ve reached out to my colleagues on multiple occasions! It doesn’t mean that I’m not good at what I do – if you’re willing to ask questions, you’re willing to learn.

Professional dog trainers can also put your training on a schedule. Just like diet plans and working with nutritionists, you have someone to keep you and your dog on track towards your goals.

We discussed Operation Socialization.

We are ALWAYS blabbing on and on about Operation Socialization. Tired of hearing it yet?? Too bad!

We support this program with every dog hair that’s stuck in our clothes! Operation Socialization (OS) calls training your puppy a “behavioral vaccine”. Just like you take your dog to the veterinarian for their distemper and lyme vaccinations, you should also be working with an OS Certified Trainer (OSCT) on your puppy’s behavioral vaccinations.

It’s a preventative…a daily multi-vitamin…think of it as important as brushing your teeth.

We had an amazing time.

Eric and Jim did a wonderful job of making me feel comfortable and helping the callers with their dilemmas, which I should have expected from folks that work with people all day long. The show was fantastic and their future lineup is sounding pretty awesome. If you haven’t already, subscribe to their show by visiting iTunes and searching for Canine Conversation to learn more about dog training.

Kahuna's K9s - We make dogs awesomer.

To claim your prize, email eryka@kahunask9s.com!!  And thank you to everyone who entered!

Kahuna's K9s - We make dogs awesomer.

Yes, we won a giveaway, with the prize being a promo code for Mr. Chewy. And yes, we were then offered a $50 promo code to give away to our readers. But our opinion cannot be bought. Unless it is for 72 billion dollars. In which case, you’d know I was bought out because I would have my new baboon with a robot arm type this post for me.

I went the boring route and ordered the dogs bully sticks. I thought being practical would make me feel as though it was money well spent. So, we ordered three 24″ peni and two 12″ peni.

Registration process

I ordered around 9 pm on February 8th. I hate registering for websites when trying to checkout. I just want to order stuff …stop making me sign up! When a website offers me the choice, however, I’ll often choose to register. I love that Mr. Chewy offers me a choice. And I thought “what the hell, I have a feeling I’ll be visiting this site again soon…” The registration was easy, mostly all on one page…so I knew that there was an end in sight.

We received a shipping notice via email a day later. A DAY LATER! I regret not pushing the limits and ordering something a little more hefty. Perhaps the fast turn-around was due to the lightweight of the bully sticks. But then again, I wanted to order a product that we’re more likely to order on a regular basis, just so I could see how true to life the delivery would be.

February 9th, this is what our doorstep looked like:

Welcome home!

(wow – we should really consider power washing!)

The DAY after we ordered, the bully sticks were on our doorsteps. That’s fantastic. Honestly, because of my busy schedule, I wouldn’t have been able to make it to the store until the weekend. So it was extra cool that they came to me.

Whomp, whomp, whooomp

There is one itty-bitty thing I’d like to mention in the “things Mr. Chcwy could do to improve their services” section: please reduce the amount of packaging used.

Bully sticks!

This huge box with a gigantic amount of paper had three bully sticks and a smaller box housed two medium ones. We like to save resources in every way that we can and it was kind of a bummer to receive this much paper for such a small amount of merchandise.

Overall Experience

We give Mr. Chewy a total award of 4 shakas:

They provide an excellent variety of products, the ordering process is pretty easy, and the prompt shipping arrival was insane! Plus, if you order $50 or more your shipping is on the house. Not your house, their house. We also enjoyed interacting in the background with the Mr. Chewy reps via email – they’re pleasant and use lots of exclamation points like we do, which obviously means they’re fun people who like to exclaim things!!!!

We will definitely be ordering from Mr. Chewy again!!

Do you want to get in on the fun? You’ve got until Tuesday, February 14th to enter our giveaway!

Meat Head enjoys his bully stick

Kahuna's K9s - We make dogs awesomer.

So, so jealous. Image: kelsey_lovefusionphoto/Flickr

Remember how jealous we were when we heard about all the bloggers getting to sample some of Mr Chewy’s sweet giveaway goodness? And we were all “hey!? What are we? Small patatah’s!?”

Then, we experienced classic paw-in-mouth syndrome because we ended up winning a $50 giveaway from our friends at Rescued Insanity. Embarrassing and awesome all at the same time.

Well, obviously Mr. Chewy decided to save the mediocre and small-time for last. We finally got our chance at a giveaway! And trust me, the devil dog on our shoulder said “keep it for yourself!! You could have enough bull peni to last your dogs for months!!!” but the Good Karma police on the other shoulder just folded her arms and tapped her foot and looked at us very disapprovingly.

So we’s gonna pay it forward.

We went online and ordered our schtuff with the loot we won and we’ll blog about our experience with Mr. Chewy’s once we receive all that awesomeness in the mail. (The judging has begun – we hit “place order” exactly 30 minutes ago…)

If you’re still reading this post, congratulations!! You will now get to read the official entry rules! And no, Mom, you don’t count. Even though you’re probably the only one still reading.

To enter the giveaway of $50 free bucks to spend at Mr. Chewy’s online store, simply leave a comment and tell us why you and your dog should be winners. The funnier, the better. (Okay, I’m lying. We’re gonna do this the right way and choose the winner randomly).

Deadline is February 14th, Valentimey Day. So get on it! You could win a Valentine gift for your TRUEST true love.

May the best pup win!

 Update February 14, 2012: Whomp, whomp, whomp. This drawing is now closed.

Kahuna's K9s - We make dogs awesomer.

So dreamy…and A-holey

Yes: my dogs get on my nerves.

Tonight, we discovered that Bones’ beloved Kong Wobbler is so coveted that it is a resource he is willing to protect. To the death. Okay, I added that last part for flair. All I know is that if there wasn’t a baby gate in between Kuna and Bones at the time Mr. B decided he wanted his Kong, we could very well be visiting the emergency vet right now.

Funny thing: that was Kuna’s wobbler – he was just kind enough to share it with Reggae Bones. And this is how he thanks him.

Kuna is Mr. Happy Go Lucky. Seriously.

Does it get happier than this???

Let’s say that, hypothetically, you are walking to the house with an armful of stuff and you happen to drop a can of baked beans on his face. Hypothetically. Kuna’s tail would still be going a mile a minute and he would be licking YOU as if to say “I’m sorry that can fell on me…please forgive me!” (yes, I realize I toooootally anthropomorphized my dog. I’m over it)

Bones is a bully breed through and through: he sees what he wants, he locks it in his crosshairs and he goes for it. No “please”, no “may I?”, just unadulterated…taking. He’s like a Viking…a Pirate…aaaargh…

So there I was: surfing Pinterest (because I’m totally addicted), when all of a sudden there’s snarling, lots of growling and two adolescent male dogs behaving as though they wanted to rip down the baby gate that stood between them and rip each others throats out. On one hand, I was proud of Kuna for standing up for himself. Jeezo – the kid gets pushed around so much and just takes it in stride it’s nice to see he has his limits. Bonesies is snarling as I grab his back legs and pull him away from the baby gate. Into the crate we go, my friend. I will have none of that.

I put him in his crate (not anything crazy…I just carried him there and put him in), then stood outside his door with a clicker and waited until he was done screaming in isolated agony. When he was done throwing a fit, I clicked and opened the door and allowed him to rejoin the family.

He thought it would be awesome to repeat this performance. Shoooop! Right back in the crate he went the moment a growl left his throat. No sir. Not on my watch. It took a couple more tries at this before he realized that going for Kuna through the gate wasn’t quite yielding the results he had hoped. Once he was showing me behavior I did like, such as looking at Kuna and ignoring him, I rewarded him.

Now that I’ve typed out this blog post, I suppose I’ve simmered down. But dayam – I just had to be honest: having multiple dogs is hard work. I’m sure tomorrow, I’ll be ready to trade in one of the other dogs for a cuter, more awesome model. For now, I’ll hang on to the three we’ve got. But I’m just going to imbibe oooooone more glass of wine….

Kahuna's K9s - We make dogs awesomer.

7. They need exercise.

I’m not talkin’ just to stay in shape…oh no. I mean for their own mental clarity. Could you imagine staying indoors all day? (That’s not to suggest leaving your dogs outside all day…)

How many chair cushions can one rip apart before it becomes a play-date in Blah-ville?

This is extra sucky when you’ve worked a 16-hour day and all you want to do is crash on your couch while watching last week’s episode of Homeland. Or Mob Wives. Or both.

6. They sometimes ingest long hairs or blades of grass. That come out the other end as long hairs or blades of grass…packaged in poop.

Sound disgusting? Oh that would be because it is. And sometimes those hairs/grass don’t come out on their own. Nope. The dog needs a human’s assistance or they’re going to just run around the yard with this stinky, dangling butthole ornament.

5. They’re not materialistic and yet, they seem to require a whole lotta crap.

Bowls. Beds. Toys. Bones (<–not the dog). Jackets. Sweaters. Leashes. Longer Leashes. Shorter leashes. Leashes that reflect light. Leashes that reflect personality. Harnesses that don’t fit. Crates. Food. Different food for the dog that’s allergic to the other food. Supplements to said food. Seatbelts. Towels. Shampoo. Special shampoo for the allergic dog.

You get my point…

4. They have anal glands.

Yeah. ‘Nuff said.

Mayhepyou??

3. Dogs have hair. Hair loves coming off dogs.

It’s going to be on your clothes, your furniture, your blankets and your food. No matter how many times you vacuum (although, using one of these bad boys doesn’t hurt).

If you’re luck is like ours, one of your dogs will be extremely reactive to the vacuum so you’ll take to sweeping your carpets. No joke.

2. Dogs have needs.

And those needs will only be announced once you are busy doing something. Sitting down to enjoy a relaxing, 90 minute chick-flick? Welp, guess who’s gotta go potty.

"Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?"

Trying to talk on the phone? Fido needs to tell you something. With loud, incremental barks. It’s worse than nails on a chalkboard.

1. After all that, they die before you.

Ew. Crass, right? It’s the ultimate cruelty to humans, I think. Listen up dogs: you teach us how to love you despite all of your obvious flaws, the least you could do is stick around for another 100 years.

Kahuna's K9s - We make dogs awesomer.

So, here are our answers to the Pet Blogger Challenge questions. Please hold us to everything we say.

1. Provide a link to your post from last year’s Pet Blogger Challenge so we can refresh our memories.

Read it and weep. No, really. We wanna see some tears.

2. What do you consider the most important goals you set out in last year’s post?

Wow! Maybe I should have reviewed that post at the half-way mark…I could have upped the challenge a bit. I talked about moving to WordPress (bada-bing! I so did that!) and challenging myself…uh, consider me challenged.

3. Have you made progress toward those goals, or have your goals changed over the past year?

I was all over the place in 2011! There were goals a-plenty!

I finally got to meet the authors of Something Wagging and I Still Want More Puppies at BlogPaws in Arlington, VA. Hurricane Irene rudely interrupted our social extravaganza, so that kinda sucked. But the social networking was face-to-face this time around, which was refreshing!

There were so many more posts than we thought possible! And we really, really loved our Thuper Thursday posts but I think those died out after a while. But looking back, it’s kind of sweet: our last Thuper dog was of our very own Sarah just two months before we sent her forward. **sniff, sniff…moving right along**

We revamped the website a bit and dabbled in some SEO. We’re still not out of the dark-ages – I have a feeling 2012 is the year…

4. Has your opinion of blogging on a schedule or as the spirit moves you changed? Which are you doing now? Do you still worry about lost traffic, momentum, etc?

I’m constantly worrying about lost traffic (thank you to the folks who currently follow us!) – I think I’m going to change that. I don’t like worrying about who “signs my yearbook”. That’s totally different from last year. I was all “ohhh, I want more people commenting! I want people reading! It’s going to be so amazing!” and after that year has passed, I’m a little irritated with my irresponsible use of resources…i.e., my attention and focus.

Growing into a more personalized blogger – that’s what I’m going for. I enjoy reading blogs that make me feel like I know the author – I want to strive for that in my own blog. So, if you visit us, don’t expect us to be all prim and proper.

5. Are you generating income from your blog? Has this changed since last year?

No! Are you!? I’ll pay you to tell me how to get paid. No I won’t. I’m kidding. Because there are totally people out there who get paid to do stuff like build blogs. Trust me. I obsess over their blogs.

I know there is a way and it’s eating me up inside. Sure, it won’t pay the bills (like, not even for gas) but it’s more about the accomplishment/challenge/ripping my hair out over something.

6. Have your likes and dislikes about blogging changed since last year?

I found a bit of a rhythm, which felt good for a while. A few of life’s interruptions derailed me toward the end of the year, so I’m excited to get back on track. Last year, I liked sharing with the readers. That hasn’t changed at all. In fact, I truly enjoyed opening up and becoming more personal with our blog.

I strongly dislike the feeling of obligation. I can be kind of “anti-authority”, if you will. Or maybe it’s more like “anti-deadlines”. I don’t like being told what to do and when to do it (because, well, where’s the procrastination supposed to come in??). I’m done stickin’ to a day-to-day schedule, mostly because I personally feel our content starts to dull if I’m just focused on getting words on the screen.

7. Overall, are you pleased with the progress you made in 2011?

I’m just going to say it: yes! We didn’t make a single penny, we have a few more followers every month (we love you all!) but the most amazing part is I started to grow into the writing thang. I’m understanding who I am as a writer more and more and I hope our readers appreciate that.

There were far more share-worthy posts this year (deemed so by our awesome readers, not me. I promise I’m not out there yelling about my blog being the most share-worthy in all of the land).

8. How do you see your blog changing/growing in 2012?

I’m just gonna say it here for all the world  us pet-bloggers to read: I. AM. GOING. TO. KICK. SOME. ADS. That’s right – no more “oh, I’ll figure that whole ad thing out later.” Nope. Game on, Bloggy McBloggerson.

I also have to get back to training my own dogs. Whoa! Epiphany! I started the blog to blab about the journey that Bizzle and I are taking together, then I got so busy with writing about the journey that I stopped actually taking part. Ew. It makes perfect sense! Therefore, this year will be our Grass Roots year. We’re getting back to what made us start blogging in the first place: our dogs.

We said goodbye to a faithful friend just a month ago, which has forever changed my views on life. As a result of recent changes, I’m no longer going to allow myself to judge the success of our blog based on other blogs out there. No more “wow…I like that font they used…we’re gonna change our fonts this week!” and definitely cutting out the “hey! They wrote about something I was going to write about!” Nope. Instead, we’re just going to work on making ourselves better for the simple sake of being better.

Kahuna's K9s - We make dogs awesomer.

We won! We won! We won!

(okay. that was lame. I admit it.)

Our pals over at Rescued Insanity announced yesterday that we are the winners of their $50 prize giveaway from Mr. Chewy!

I gotta say: I’ve been seeing Mr. Chewy hit the scene lately and we were kinda jealous folks were grabbing up all kinds of goodness from their site. So when we saw our friends with a giveaway, well, hell, we had to sign up!

Speech! Speech! Speech!

It’s such an honor…we couldn’t have done this **sniff-sniff** without our mothers, our dogs, and of course, our pals at Rescued Insanity. 

But now the heavy load of responsibility. You see, Mr. Chewy happens to have this ridiculously awesome “spend just $49 to receive free shipping” guarantee. It’s, like, the law on planet Mr. Chewy.

So when I mosied on over to their site, I see things that make my eyes go wide with want.

If I were still a brand name gal, imagine the words “Coach”, “Gucci” and “Prada” splattered on the monitor. Except, since I’m a dog trainer and I wear jeans and sneakers 30 hours a day, I now get excited over the names “Stella and Chewy’s” , “The Honest Kitchen“  and “Taste of the Wild“. Can I get a collective “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”?

Choices, Choices, Choices

Of course, my mother wants me to make the responsible and practical choice by purchasing another bag of Taste of the Wild, since the pups are already on that diet. It’d be like getting a month’s worth of food free. (I didn’t actually consult my mother…at this point, I already know what she’d recommend.) But how boooooring would that be??

Then I started ooo-ing and ahhh-ing at all the treats with which I could spoil my jerk-face canines. We can never have enough Zukes in the house…

There’s always bull peni…

mmmm. Peni.

 To be honest, we have no idea what we’re gonna get. With three dogs, it’s kinda hard to split things fairly without running a bill comparable only to a teenager’s monthly iPhone bill.

What should we get? Any suggestions? Have you tried something super awesome from their site that you would recommend?

And hows’about a huge THANK YOU to Rescued Insanity’s Kristine for hosting the giveaway! Wooh-wooh-wooh! Thanks, K!

Kahuna's K9s - We make dogs awesomer.

And we already made a list of holiday gifts befitting a spoiled canine, but we failed to mention what an amazing gift-giver might maybe wanna get yours truly. If they want. No pressure. It’s not like I will be shunned from the dog trainining/loving community because I’m not like all the cool kids who get to have these things…right? right?! It’s not like it would totally ruin my life if I can’t have this one, eensy-weensy little thing…right!?!

Disc Dog Training DVD

We’re kinda wishy-washy, flippy-floppy when it comes to figuring out what we like to do with our dogs. I mean, there’s training tricks and stuff but we really haven’t found our niche.

We tried out Nose Work, which is super fun but too slow of a pace for us. We talked a bit about trying agility but that was never put into action mostly because it requires too much equipment. And we’re lazy. (Nevermind the total contradiction that just happened there.)

Our latest craze? We wanna do freestyle a) because the people and dogs look so awesome doing it and b) it looks like a whole hell of a lot of fun. Except for the costumes. I’m not knockin’ folks that do freestyle – they are amazing trainers, competitors, and performers. It just aint our thing.

Thankfully, if you’re into freestyle but not into the song/performance aspect of canine freestyle, there is disc dog freestyle. Check out an awesome video here:

Freestyle Disc Dogs

Maybe, just maybe, if I had this DVD I could learn how to be awesome like these people. I’d, like, sleep with it under my pillow for weeks.

And Bonesie Tonesie would be soooo good at it!

I wonder how long those people practice throwing frisbees to get that good…because I can throw a frisbee maaaaybe 20 feet. But I bet if I wore sequined shoes, it would distract the judges from my mediocre frisbee tosses.

Kahuna's K9s - We make dogs awesomer.

Knowledge is learning something new every day. Wisdom is letting go of something … every day. Zen Proverb

Grieving sucks. There, I said it. And everyday, I have to admit, I’m a tiny bit shocked that I wake up. I miss her…I miss her until my heart literally hurts. Like, I can feel a physical wanting…I want to squeeze her warm, furry body until this hole in my chest is full.

But I smile. And I laugh. J and I joke and carry on.

Before you wonder why I seem so new to this grieving thing, I’ll just put it out there: Sarah is the single most important loss I’ve suffered in my adult life. For all other losses, she was there for me.

Life after Sarah

Our daily routine hasn’t changed much.With Sarah’s medical issues, feeding time was always much more of a project. There was a certain choreography to it that required at least 15 extra minutes of preparation. It feels odd not hiding medicine in food after 10 years of perfecting such a skill. I laughed thinking this is how people develop Munchhausen’s.

Bizzle is allowed to roam the house again, without fear of a fight breaking out. But she still sulks and hides under the couch because now she has two adolescent boys using her as a chew toy.

Sarah used to always lie in major doorways/thoroughfares, as long as that was where we were. If we were moving around too much, she’d just lie in the hallway. Bones makes it hard to miss even that, considering he’s always at your feet.

Kuna is our door-greeter, so it’s not like it’s easier to get in the door when your hands are full. One slight difference: Kuna knows the cue “back” so that he can actually get out of the way. Sarah’s back legs were so weak, she always had a hard time maneuvering the U-turn.

Always there

When people offer their condolescences, they say “She’ll always be with you in spirit.” They’re right. I can feel her.

There’s this gigantic void in the room, as if a piece of furniture was suddenly removed. As if I’ll walk into the living room and there will be an impression on the couch where she is still lying. It’s not haunting, it’s comforting. I even caught myself smiling, just in case she was watching me.

When the veterinarian helped us say goodbye to our girl, she mentioned that during the fall and early winter “business” picks up. And for some reason, she receives more calls in November/December. It clicked.

“That makes sense,” I said, “it’s nature’s time to put things to rest and prepare to be reborn.” This fascinates me – that humans become so disconnected with nature and our animals manage to stay so tuned in. It comforts me knowing that Mother Nature was calling her home.

I’ve always been a sentimental sap. Tattoos in memorandum, items with sentimental value, animals out of place (hello, a hawk in a Giant Supermarket’s parking lot = omen) – I try to pay attention to these things as much as possible.

So far, I have a rock from our last walk, the hair that the veterinarian buzzed off of her to administer the catheter, her collar tags for every place we’ve lived, her paw print, a tattoo and soon I’ll have her nose print on a necklace.

My deepest love. Until we meet again.

The blankets she last lied on are still on the living room floor. I think I’m ready to pick them up today when I get home.

I folded up the clothes that I was wearing when I last held her; they’ll sit on the top of my nightstand for as long as I feel they should be there.

Last night, the kids asked why Sarah’s eyes looked so green in pictures. I saw J shoot them a look like “Don’t talk about Sarah…” and I said “that’s okay – they can ask.” It was a bit premature of me, considering the very second I started to speak, my voice got shaky.

I love the way the light hits your cataracts…

“She was old…the light hits (hit?) her eyes differently… now finish your food” . That’s about all I got out before I excused myself from the table quickly.

No one is going to tell me how much or how often I’m allowed to miss her. I’m also allowed to miss her whenever the moment strikes.

J and I were driving home the other day and while watching the bare trees zoom past with the sun setting in the background, I felt her. So I cried. And then I was done.

We were getting the dogs ready for their walk and I saw Sarah’s bandana. I held it to my cheek, closed my eyes, and bawled. Then I folded it up and carried on.

J asks me “do you want me to say something to make you feel better?” “No,” I say, “I just want to be sad.” You have to feel sad – it’s part of the process.

I’m glad I get to feel this alive. I thought I had an appreciation for life before Sarah died, but I’m so much more aware now. I feel the breeze on my skin and my heart swells – it’s more possible than ever that can be my girl. To some, it borders on insanity and hippie talk.

To some, thinking that we live many lives is crazy. There are folks who don’t even notice the night sky, full of stars. They aren’t touched when a ladybug lands on their hand and won’t fly away. I don’t want to be one of those people. I don’t want to forget that we are all connected somehow.

Instead, I’m learning to remember. I remember bringing Sarah home from the shelter the day I adopted her. Mostly because she diarrhea’d all over me. But that’s beside the point.

I remember how her paws stunk like Fritos. I remember the smacking sound her mouth would make when she’s about to nab a treat from your hands. I remember that if you didn’t announce you were going to touch her, her skin would jump once you did.

The biggest lesson of all, besides grieving, remembering and becoming more connected to the world around me, is that I want to be someone who loves fully. I want to be someone who gets hurt easily because I’m sensitive and vulnerable. I want to be someone open to growing and learning. I want to laugh more, love more, and forgive more.

In other words, I want to be who Sarah made me.

Kahuna's K9s - We make dogs awesomer.