Category Archives: Children and Animals

World Mental Health Day

Today is World Mental Health Day. With everything going on in the world, research is showing there is a lot more mental health issues than ever.

If you have a pet you know they can be a great antidepressant.

Here is what the Mental Health Foundation says…

Caring for a pet can help our mental health in many ways, including:

  • increasing your physical activity. Dog owners are likely to take their pet out every day for a walk or run. This can be a fun way to fit exercise into your routine
  • providing companionship. Pets can give you a sense of security and someone to share the day with. Caring for them can help you feel wanted and needed. This can be especially valuable for older people or those who live alone
  • reducing anxiety. The companionship of a pet can help to ease your anxiety
  • boosting self-confidence. Pets can be great listeners, offer unconditional love and won’t criticise you. This can help your self-confidence, especially if you feel isolated or misunderstood
  • helping you meet new people. Dog owners often stop and chat to each other on walks. But other pets can be a way to meet people too: in pet shops, training classes or online groups, for example
  • adding structure to your day. Having to feed, exercise and care for a pet can help you keep to a daily routine, which can help you feel more grounded and focused. It can give your day purpose and a sense of achievement.

I would love to hear about a pet in your life (past or present) and how they help(ed) your mental health.

Take care!

Sunday Pawzing: Thoughts From The Week (9/19/21)

Hello everyone. Happy Sunday!

I hope you enjoy our post in a newsletter style again with thoughts from the week. Just click the image below to open it up.

Neglecting The Signs

Hello all. I did not write a Sunday Pawzing post today. Sundays are the day I set aside for writing posts and I try to keep them on the “lighter” side. But since I am not currently writing posts during the week, and this is what is on my mind, I wrote about domestic abuse and animal abuse and how they are intertwined. Therefore, I am not calling it “Sunday Pawzing.”

This is on my mind because someone I know, who we suspect is in an abusive relationship, just had a huge fight with this guy she is living with. Unfortunately her mom was going out of town for the week and bringing her dog to stay with them. This, of course, has me very concerned for her and the dog’s safety.

There is ample research that shows the link between animal violence and human violence. The signs are there in children but people often ignore them. This is a very dangerous thing to do. Continue reading

Sunday Pawzing To Show Off Pets

It’s Sunday and it’s also “Pet Photo Day” or what I like to think of as simply “Show Off Your Pet Day.”

I have a video (instead of a photo) of Cino below where she is playing with her favorite toy mousey. I keep a basket of toys under a table in the living room. I only pull it out once and a while just to change it up. I pulled it out last weekend but didn’t get any toys out. A little while later there was Cino in the bin checking everything out and helping herself to the toys. After pawing, sniffing, and checking them all out the one she pulled out was her mousey. She loves her mousey! She was having such a good time tugging, biting, throwing, and pouncing on mousey that I quickly grabbed my phone and started recording. I didn’t start recording quick enough to get it all or the cutest part but I think us pet parents know how challenging that can be. At least you can see her and her favorite toy.

Later on she picked up mousey with her teeth and put it back in the bin. I mean, how adorable is that?! I’m disappointed I didn’t get that on video.

Let me know in a comment if you did a post on “Pet Photo Day” so I can check it out. I may even ask your permission to use the photo in one of my future posts.

I hope you enjoy your day. Happy Sunday!

Sunday Pawzing Not For What It Is But For What We Do

It’s Sunday and in the U.S. it’s a holiday!

Let’s face it we all love a holiday as this means time off work and a time to celebrate. But let’s take a look at how we celebrate. We spend time with family & friends, enjoy a meal together, maybe go to the lake or a park, play some games, have a few drinks, and when night falls light off fireworks. But did you know the incredible about of harm fireworks cause? I didn’t.

Growing up I always really enjoyed celebrating the 4th of July and one of the most exciting parts of the celebration was the fireworks. We would sit on the garage roof and have a perfect view of our neighborhood display. As we got older we would go to parks to watch them. They are definitely beautiful to watch and as they would go off my dad would always let out a big vocal “Ooooohh!!!” “Ahhhhhh!!!” Then we would all start doing it just to be silly.

It wasn’t until I researched it that I found out all of the harm fireworks actually cause. Continue reading

For The Love Of Cats

Finally! I was finally able to finish the video I was working on two weeks ago when I ran into all kinds of software/computer trouble. It so happens that today is Cat World Domination Day! So it worked out ok because what a perfect day to share it. 🐱

I put the video together in honor of a cat that was beaten on live video. Continue reading

Sunday Pause (Paws): Remembering It’s Up To Us

It’s Sunday! Time to kick back & relax. Maybe we can relax by reading a book to a little one in our life.

How animals are treated now and in the future depends on us. Not me as an animal advocate, but US. Every one of us is responsible for how animals are treated in this world.

Most of us have children in our lives whether it be our own, nieces & nephews, or friend’s children. Just teaching these children in our life kindness, compassion, and empathy towards animals can make a HUGE difference.

You may know that I am a huge fan of the RedRover Readers program. This program is a curriculum designed to teach children empathy toward animals. I read one of the books from this program to a few groups of children in a preschool classroom this past week. The book is called “Ginger Finds a Home.”

Not only did I read the book, but since RedRover Readers is an SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) curriculum, I asked each child Continue reading

Sunday Pause (Paws): March 2021

It’s Sunday! Time to kick back and relax.

We all agree that 2020 and even 2021 have been incredibly challenging years. This month has turned out to be a bugger for me as well. March 1st I fell and injured my ankle pretty badly. I have never had anything quite like this happen and it has been very challenging. I tried for the first few weeks to go on with life as normal but it wasn’t working. I was struggling in many ways and the demands of life can make you feel pressured. Now I am concentrating on getting better and making that the priority.

My birthday was last Sunday and there wasn’t much celebrating because of my injury and not being able to get together due to the pandemic. But I received gifts and cards in the mail along with a number of phone calls and messages. My mom also dropped off some goodies and gifts for me.❤️ One of the gifts was a wreath I have been wanting for months that I found on Etsy. Here is a picture of the wreath as I opened it up. It’s still in the box and after checking it over thoroughly, it is also Cino approved.

Continue reading