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The path to becoming Wagalicious

Are Clubs Completely Irrelevant? #leadership #success #teamwork #training #wagalicious dogs Jun 03, 2025

What do service clubs, civic clubs, and dog clubs have in common? Two major things, it turns out.

Are you in a club, or maybe more than one? It could be Rotary, Toastmaster, PTA, or your local kennel club – do you belong? If so, maybe you’ve noticed a couple of things – the club is smaller than it ...

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Perfectly Imperfect Crowned One Week from Tonight #leader #success perfection perfectionism wagalicious westminster kennel club Feb 04, 2025

Today I’m putting on my dog show judge hat while we talk about perfectionism. Unexpected, I know – this weekend, accomplished dog sports enthusiasts are converging on Madison Square Garden and the Jacob K. Javitz Center in New York City for the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. The best of the best ...

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Who's the Thanksgiving Turkey in Your Family? #success family mental wellbeing personal development thanksgiving Nov 26, 2024

Day after tomorrow is Thanksgiving, traditionally the eating-est holiday in America. Attendance at family gatherings is expected, and woe be unto the newly married couple with parents, step-parents, grandparents and step-grandparents who all expect them to show up hungry to multiple, separate, famil...

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Doggedly Determined to Succeed #success dog days of summer in the moment joy leader leadership Aug 27, 2024

Do you love dogs? Yeah, me, too. We’re in good company – a third of the world’s households have at least one dog, and most people consider their dog (or dogs) to be part of the family.

That describes my family – we had a dog as soon as Mom thought my youngest brother was old enough to understand th...

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Are You in Love With Broadcast Radio, Too? #leadership #success national radio day radio Aug 20, 2024

Have you ever listened to the radio?

Since it’s 2024, I need to tighten up that question a bit: have you ever listened to terrestrial radio on a device that was picking up the signal out of thin air? Today is National Radio Day, and today, terrestrial radio is getting kind of quaint as people choos...

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Do You Have a Best Friend or a Beast Friend? #success connection friend friendship Jul 30, 2024

Do you have friends? Then today is your day! Today is the International Day of Friendship and this issue of the weekly newsletter explores the mysteries of our friendships.

There are two sides to friendship – the positives and the not-so-positives. Because every single person is human, we bring bot...

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Trying to Reason With Hurricane Season #leader #success attitude control happiness hurricane season tilting at windmills uncontrollable Jun 25, 2024

Are you a Jimmy Buffet fan? A full-on Parrothead? Or maybe you’re someone who never understood the appeal of a man who wore loud shirts, shorts, and performed barefoot in front of thousands of adoring fans?

It doesn’t matter where you land on the Beach Balladeer’s spectrum of fandom, you’ve probabl...

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Can You Appreciate the Price of a Broken Heart? #leader #success broken heart coping loss Jun 11, 2024

When something hurts so much we say that it breaks our heart – does it really, or does it save it?

Have you ever lost someone you love? And yes, pets count. Can you remember the physicalness of the pain – the pain in your chest, the hollowness of your being? What is that? Why is that? And can we ev...

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Better Bodies Equals Bigger Brains #leader #success brain health golf mental wellbeing sports May 28, 2024

Today is Women’s Golf Day, and whether you’re a golfer or a woman or a woman golfer or none of the foregoing, it’s a great day to talk about sports and how playing your favorite sport contributes to giving you a bigger, better brain and a longer, healthier life.

Human beings were nomadic hunter-gat...

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Can You Believe Your Beliefs? #leader #leadership #success argument beliefs believe in yourself disagreement May 21, 2024

Have you ever thought about belief? We think of our own beliefs as correct and even judge others based on whether they believe the same way we do or not. Our beliefs feel so real, and so true, that we can’t imagine how others could possibly believe differently.

And yet they do. And they always will...

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Freedom for Working Moms #leader #success happiness mother's day work at home moms week May 14, 2024

This past Sunday was Mother’s Day. It’s a lovely holiday designed to let moms relax for one day of the year while being appreciated and pampered. It’s a day that features flowers, favorite foods, gifts, and maybe even a macaroni necklace designed by a 3-year-old. Can AI ever replace those? (Please d...

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How Giving Gets You Far More #success leadership volunteering volunteerism Apr 16, 2024

What do you have such a passion for that you give up your free time to support it? For some people, that’s a sport they play. For some, it’s a hobby like sewing or gardening. And for some, it’s being part of an organization in some sort of volunteer capacity. And whether you know it or not, the worl...

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Creating More Creativity in Your Life #agriculture #creativity #fun #leader #petindustry #success #veterinary #wagalicious Mar 26, 2024

Today let’s talk about creativity. What it is, why it’s important, and how to create a more creative life for yourself.

First, what the heck is creativity? Merriam-Webster’s definition is “the ability to be creative.” Cambridge Dictionary’s definition goes deeper, making it by far the more creative...

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A Declaration of Victory for Analog #success analog digital memory retention Jan 23, 2024

When was the last time you wrote a letter? Not typed a Word doc letter, not talked-to-texted a letter – when was the last time you put pen to paper and wrote?

OK, so if you still send actual, physical holiday cards, you’re winning on this one!

Today is National Handwriting Day, a “holiday” that be...

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Ready...Set...Share on Giving Tuesday! #leadership #success agriculture charity giving tuesday pet industry vetlife Nov 28, 2023

Unless your eyes are just now opening for the very first time today, you already know today is Giving Tuesday. Today’s newsletter is short and sweet – if you’ll be giving today, please share the link to the organization you’re supporting. If you give at other times of the year, share the link. If yo...

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Got Big Plans for Halloween Tonight? #leadership #success #wellbeing agriculture costumes fun halloween petindustry team vetlife Oct 31, 2023

Full disclosure – today’s post is just for fun. OK, you’re right – fun is important for team cohesion, stress relief, and for mental wellbeing, so today’s newsletter might be useful, too.

And it’s mainly for fun, and yes, there’s a prize involved!

Do you love Halloween? I love Halloween – always h...

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Do You Know Who Your Vet Tech Is? #animalindustry #leadership #success #teamwork #veterinary vetlife vettech Oct 17, 2023

What do they do, these vet’s assistants?

They have the best job ever!

All day with kittens and puppies they play

Getting wags and kisses – so clever!

You’d almost pay to have their day

It just sounds so life-giving…

Vet technicians are almost magicians

Turning snuggles into a living!

What yo...

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Were You Bullied or Were You the Bully? #leadership #success #wellbeing bully bullying Oct 03, 2023

Quick – think back to your early school days – were you bullied or were you the bully? Yes, those are the only two choices I’m giving you.

“But wait,” you might be thinking, “I wasn’t the bully and I wasn’t bullied.” OK, I hear you. Did you know someone who was being bullied? Did you do anything ab...

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Do You Encourage Silliness Sometimes? Should You? #success #wellbeing communication inside joke leader national talk like a pirate day pirate Sep 19, 2023

What started as an inside joke has turned into a day of silliness that’s celebrated every year on September 19th. Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day – avast, ye mateys, and I’ll tell the tale of the scurvy lads who created this sorry excuse for revelry!

Two friends were playing racquetball on June 6, 199...

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Do You Want to Experience Joy #leadership #success connection joy petindustry vetlife Aug 22, 2023

Today, can you focus on spreading joy? Can you find ways to delight people you don’t know, probably won’t ever be friends with, and show them you see and appreciate them? 

Why, you ask? Hang on – I’ll spill the beans. First, full disclosure – one of my current dogs is a therapy dog, the third one I...

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The Art of Juggling Happiness #success happiness petindustry vetlife wellbeing Aug 08, 2023

Let’s talk about happiness today, and how difficult it is for scientists to even define it, much less quantify it for us. A focus on happiness has been in the news so much that now its shadow twin, toxic positivity, is making headlines. In this post, happiness is being discussed as one of the large ...

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Leaning on Your Girlfriends #success #wellbeing friendship Aug 01, 2023

There’s a holiday today that’s only for women. Sorry guys – you’re left out of this one, and the silver lining is that you don’t have to remember today, buy flowers, a card, or take your lady out to a fancy dinner. Today, National Girlfriends Day, is a day for women to celebrate their women-friends,...

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Do Your To-Do's Include You? #animalindustry #leadership #selfcare #success #veterinary happiness petindustry Jul 25, 2023

Caution: cliché alert!!!

  • You can’t pour from an empty vessel.
  • Almost everything will work if you unplug it for a few minutes – even you.
  • We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.

Yes, you’re right – this edition of the newsletter is about self-care. July is Self-Care month and ...

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Can You Forgive, and Do You Even Want To? #animalindustry #leadership #success #veterinary mental wellbeing petindustry vetlife Jul 18, 2023

About 120 years ago a phrase came into being: “get out of the doghouse.” If a couple had a fight and one locked the other out of the house, unless there was a barn on the property, the only shelter was likely to be the family dog’s house. Hence, a bid for forgiveness was characterized as a bid to ge...

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Cheer Up the Lonely - Maybe You, Too! #leadership #loneliness #selfcare #success #wellbeing Jul 11, 2023

Do you know a lonely person? Especially since the pandemic isolation has ended, you might be surprised to learn that there are more people who say they’re lonely now than before the pandemic.

Just what is loneliness, anyway? Noted researcher Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad has been studying loneliness fo...

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Creatively Creating More Creativity #creativity #leadership #success #teamwork #wellbeing May 30, 2023

Quick…what does “creativity” mean to you? If you automatically conjure thoughts of crayons and paste, of sculptures and works by Old Masters, and of pottery wheels and hit songs, you’re right…partially right, anyway.

Oxford Online defines creativity as, “the use of the imagination or original ideas...

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Are You Guilty of Taking Mental Shortcuts? #assumptions #leadership #mental health #success #wellbeing May 23, 2023

This week let’s talk about some mental shortcuts many people take, and how harmful they can be to relationships of every kind.

  • Republicans think Democrats are soft in the head. Democrats think Republicans have no heart.
  • Minorities think authorities are out to get them. Authorities think minoriti
  • ...
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Are You a Use It or Lose It? #leadership #success #veterinary #wellbeing vacation May 16, 2023

Whether there are kids in your home or not, you’re probably thinking about doing something this summer. Because of the rhythm of years in childhood, most of us associate the summer months with vacation time. What are your vacation plans?

Don’t have any? You’re in good company – nearly a third of Am...

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Hero, Villain, or Something In Between? #leadership #success #wellbeing mental wellbeing mother's day neuroplasticity May 09, 2023

She is revered. She is vilified. She is someone that most of us took for granted, not realizing that she was a person with a life, hopes, and dreams before us, and plans for her own life that didn’t necessarily include us. She is Mother and this Sunday is her day.

Relationships are difficult at tim...

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Are You Strong Enough to be Quiet? #leadership #success #wellbeing leader meditation May 02, 2023

This week’s topic might make you roll your eyes. That’s OK. This week’s topic may make you think, “I’ve tried and it doesn’t work for me.” That’s OK, too. Keep reading for the why’s and how’s about adding … gasp! … meditation to your daily routine.

There are a lot of reasons people give for not med...

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Carving Out Caring Time for You #animalindustry #selfcare #success #veterinary #wellbeing Apr 25, 2023

If April showers bring May flowers, you know it’s time for peek-toes, flip-flops, and bare feet very soon! That’s probably why today is National Mani-Pedi day – gotta get those foot-tootsies summer-ready. Yes, even if you’re a dude, the benefits of carving an hour or so out of your day for pampering...

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It's Tax Day - Do You Know What Taxes You? #leadership #success taxes uncertainty wellbeing Apr 18, 2023

Today is so taxing! If you’ve noticed that people are cranky, distant, or just plain missing, it’s probably because today is the day Uncle Sam demands his due. It’s tax day, and those who waited until the last minute have discovered that there aren’t a lot more minutes left to get all that paperwork...

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Harnessing Your Inner Animal Control Officer to Lead Your Team #leadership #success #training #wellbeing behavior communication difficult personality Apr 11, 2023

Dogs are an important part of my life. Yours too? Growing up, my family always had a small dog and she (it was always a “she”) was a member of our family. The first was Bobbie, the one who sadly taught us the importance of not allowing puppies to dash out the door unrestrained. Next was Pixie, from ...

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In Praise of Family Farmers #success #wellbeing agriculture appreciation family farm Mar 28, 2023

In the past week, did you eat anything? Did you drink anything besides plain water? Did you sweeten something with sugar or monk fruit or stevia or honey? Do you have fresh fruit in your kitchen, canned goods in your pantry, meat and veggies in your refrigerator and freezer? Then you are the end use...

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Beefing Up Your Leadership Skills #leadership #success #wellbeing communication goals leader purpose research Mar 07, 2023

Are you a team lead? The team can be a work team, a sports team or a family team – most people lead some sort of team, whether they know it or not. Some people enjoy the role of leader, helping people develop their full potential, while others are intimidated or uninterested in taking a leadership r...

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Training Dogs and People #focus #goals #leadership #success #training #wellbeing Feb 28, 2023

Even if you don’t have a dog, you just might learn something about leadership, your own self-development, and training humans from this newsletter, so please humor me on this one.

As a life-long dog person and someone who’s been deeply involved in dog sports all my adult life, you might guess that ...

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