Ruff Waters

05/19/2026

🍴Food for thought 💬

How many times has someone told you that their animals act like they are starving? Lol. These two groups of parents didn’t but their fur babies told on themselves.

🐾 Henny: Resource guards.
🐾 Winston: Wants his food, his siblings food, my food, food that’s been on the counter for 2 seconds, and snacks from the snack bag.
🐾 Lil’ Man: Does not let me forget breakfast or dinner up to 1 hour before they are due.
🐾 Mora: Only acknowledges my existence when I am feeding her.
🐾 Merry: Thinks if Pippin can’t see the treats, then they aren’t there.
🐾 Pippin: Will sniff them out with his nose anyway because it is better than his eyes by nature.

We can all agree that the thought of actual physical famine is a hard place to imagine ourselves. Many of us, by the grace of God, will never experience it. What about spiritual famine?

“There would be no shortages or droughts if people did not hoard resources. Famine is not total lack of but more so scarcity. Scarcity is an illusion created by fear.”

“In decision making - the psychology of scarcity affects how we manage resources. Whether it is a lack of time, money, or food - scarcity narrows cognitive focus. It can lead to tunnel vision and poor long term planning.”

If you have a scarcity mindset or are worried about having less than what you desire - turn your worries over to God. This can be done through meditation + prayer.

Meditation is not the act of daydreaming nor does it take hours and hours. ☁️ If you have 5-20 minutes of your day, a few times a week - I highly encourage you to meditate. Meditation practices can look different for everyone but should have a very clear thought or prayer that is meant to help find answers within your higher self and through His message. God actually encourages you to meditate.

Now is a good time for breaking traditions.
I encourage you to think about what traditions you are following that no longer serve you / are worrisome to you. Hand it over to Him to guide you. Do not let the opinions of other people stop you from shedding your skin no matter what the new skin looks like. Snakes don’t rush to shed their skin but rather let it occur naturally and slowly. Slow + steady wins the race. Progress over perfection. Keep these things in mind as you slowly let yourself ease your mind enough into meditation + pray away your worries - to be protected and forever provided for. He wants you to meditate!!🧘‍♀️

When was the last time you spread a message to be sure you weren’t hoarding spiritual resources & to fight against spiritual famine? I challenge you to do so! 🫶

05/15/2026

Saturday-Thursday ☀️

05/11/2026

Pack mentality is the best way to operate ❤️ Couldn’t have said this better. This program resonates with me so much. Dogs + kids learning together - can’t go wrong.

05/09/2026

Clyde is my newest bully boy. He is a man of many moods and personalities. He has to stay away from other dominant male dogs because he has been known to want to start or finish a fight. The story of Bonnie & Clyde naturally fits in this week.

Bonnie & Clyde became infamous for their violent crimes with their gang - leaving behind a known 13 murders + number of robberies.
Their ability to evade law enforcement for years made their names in history - particularly Clyde.

13 is definitely an unlucky number because it is my karmic number. Today is 5/8. 5+8=13

🗝️“Chasing what you do not have will destroy you”
🗝️“Wealth is the parent of luxury”

Don’t become so preoccupied with the gift that you fail to recognize the Giver. Don’t make luxuries your sole means of happiness or essential to life. We all have our own thing when it comes to what we deem luxurious or what we choose to indulge in. If you are able to ever live a life of luxury:
1. Plan for it - don’t grab it
2. Enjoy it - don’t worship it
Choosing experiences, relationships, and moments over material possessions leads to long lasting happiness rather than instant gratification.

Bonnie & Clyde wanted glamour, excitement, and other people’s approval. In fact - they were willing to risk it all & did!!!! 😕

Your relationships can have a big impact on your life.

Who is it that God uses to model His message and challenge you to change? To let go of the natural inclination to settle for less than full potential & pursue things you never dreamed could happen?

The 4 main characteristics of people who impact our lives:
1. Consistency - regularly reliable + unaffected by winds of change.
2. Authenticity - real down to the bone + genuine.
3. Unselfishness - those who notice our needs + are honestly concerned about our welfare.
4. Tirelessness - relentlessly determined + resilient.

Hopefully today and everyday - you choose to make a good impact on somebody around you instead of a bad one‼️‼️

And just to be clear - Clyde the dog has been very good for me 😊 He’s a big softie.

05/07/2026

🐐 He’s adorable haha

05/05/2026

I used to beat myself all the time for being so sensitive and empathetic. When you feel everything, you feel EVERYTHING. Constantly worrying about the emotions and feelings of all around you can feel like a curse.

But then I realized as I got older it’s actually a gift. How lucky am I to actually care and consider the feelings, emotions and perspectives of the animals and people around me? To want and need them to feel safe and happy and secure so that I could also feel that way. Thank God I look at animals as beings with just as much right to be here as I have, and just as much of a right to a GOOD and fulfilled life as me. They deserve as much respect and appreciation and understanding as we humans do. Why would fear or pain or stress be okay for them just because it alleviated an inconvenience for me?

It’s why our team at NMBDT is so dedicated. We are all anxious, sensitive, empathetic animal lovers who want the creatures in our orbit to feel good. We truly, really truly CARE about not just the human experience, but the dogs too. Sensitivity is our superpower here. And what I’ve realized is that it’s NOT a weakness, it’s a strength. It takes much more effort to be this way because it means not cutting corners, not looking at just the human side, and always considering all the angles. God it’s hard work, but it’s so worth it.

I think there are many dogs out there that are the same way, and I’ve learned to help their humans celebrate their sensitivity too. In today’s world, feeling things isn’t a bad thing. Empathy is needed more than ever, and so is patience and compassion. The idea that if you’re any of these things you’re somehow weaker or less powerful is false.

In 50 - 100 years NONE of us will be here anymore, none of this will matter, but your legacy of how you treated those around you and spent your time will remain. Choose wisely.

05/05/2026

HS ❤️

05/02/2026

Speaking of mother’s day & the heart chakra - I should have waited for my visit with Han Solo to include him in my previous post.
He is still up for adoption. I am encouraging his foster mommy to keep him ‼️‼️
This week - he is on exercise restriction because he has heartworms. 🪱😕 The goal is to keep his heart rate low to prevent fatal complications caused by dead or dying worms clogging the blood vessels.

This weather has been perfect for bugs. I have also seen a few ticks this past week. I strongly encourage everyone to take their heartworm, flea, and tick prevention! Nobody likes pests! 😁 In the vet med world, heartworm is a sucky diagnosis and treatment is extensive - however; watching the worm wiggle under microscope can definitely give an adrenaline rush to a slow or boring day in the office.
They look gnarly! 🌀

05/02/2026

Mommies make the world go round 🌎

Mother’s Day is right around the corner. Apollo and Flynn are their mommy’s best friends and they are treated as their children. (Rightfully so.) Dogs are known to gain the title of “bestfriend” rather quickly - but it’s hard not to give it to them when they have so much love to give to us. Apollo gets to spend a lot of time with his mom because she works from home and Flynn’s mom is making sure that she’s living out her golden years in style (at the age of 15.) Apollo has separation anxiety and Flynn is deaf so she can’t hear anything and she shows it lol. These dogs can’t get enough quality time with their pawrents - it’s what they live for. Their time is precious just like ours is.

❤️ The root chakra: Red

💚 The heart chakra: Pink & green

🌸 Aphrodite: Greek goddess of love & beauty. Represents confidence and self love. Associated with the colors red, pink, and sea foam green: representing her birth from the sea foam. Also associated with Venus - Roman goddess of love & fertility.
Song: “Dark Horse” - Katy Perry & Juicy J

“She is described as temperamental, capricious, and sometimes vain or cruel, especially when her beauty or rights are challenged. She is a vengeful force if slighted, but also a doting mother.”

Aphrodite teaches us that self love is a requirement - heightening confidence through self care routines, and setting firm boundaries to protect one's energy. I hope all of the mommies out there choose to put themselves and their mental health at the top of their priority list. In order to love our babies correctly - we have to love ourselves first. This week going into next weekend - I hope all mommies will heal their root & heart chakras and choose to spend Sunday taking care of themselves or spending quality time with their babies. Time is much more valuable than materialistic items.

Whether your baby is here or in heaven 👼, is furry with four paws, you’re pregnant or you’re on a conception journey: Happy Mother’s Day Week!

Celebrate Aphrodite style 🏛️

05/02/2026

11:11 & Ghost 💫 Cute story

He lifts his head from wherever he’s resting at exactly 11:11 every night, looks up at the ceiling for a few quiet seconds, taps his tail three slow times, and then settles right back down. It felt like a harmless little quirk — until one evening in late October, when someone drove hours just to explain it. By the time he finished, I was sitting on my kitchen floor, too stunned to move.

His name is Ghost.

He’s six years old, about fifty-five pounds, a powerful Bull Terrier. He is entirely snow-white, with a short, dense coat and the signature muscular, compact build of his breed. He has that distinctly powerful, egg-shaped head and deep-set, dark triangular eyes that appear both intensely alert and incredibly wise. His ears, unlike a Basset’s, stand perfectly and rigidly erect, always pricked and ready. He has broad shoulders and large paws that show the solid strength he carries, but despite his imposing physique, there’s a softness to the way he carries himself.

I brought him home in March 2024 from a small rescue called Second Wind in Greensboro, North Carolina. He had been there for over a year. The only thing they knew about his past was that his previous owner had passed away.

I’m Aubrey. I’m thirty-one, a graphic designer in Winston-Salem, and I live alone in a small rental house — one that Ghost has completely claimed, especially the couch he refuses to share.

The day I met him, a volunteer smiled softly and said, “He’s been waiting.”

Ghost didn’t bark. He just walked up slowly with that slow, deliberate, powerful Bull Terrier stride, rested his massive head against the kennel door, and fixed me with a steady, meaningful gaze from those deep eyes.

That was it.

I signed the papers that same day.

He came home with me and curled up right beside my bed that night, his white body a stark, comforting shape on the rug. He’s never chosen any other place since.

For months, he was everything I needed — calm, gentle, stubborn in that specific, single-minded Bull Terrier way, but endlessly loyal. No chaos. No trouble. Just this steady, muscular presence, like he had already decided I was home.

Then I noticed the 11:11 thing.

At first, I ignored it. But it kept happening. Every single night.

Same time. Same motion.

Head up. Eyes toward the ceiling. Three slow tail taps against the floor.

Then stillness.

I even started checking the time.

He never missed.

It stayed just a strange little habit… until that night in October.

There was a knock at my door.

A man stood there — older, hesitant, but certain. He asked if I had adopted a dog named Ghost.

My chest tightened instantly.

He introduced himself as someone connected to Ghost’s former owner. It had taken him months to find where Ghost ended up. He said he didn’t want anything… just needed to tell me something.

We sat in my kitchen.

He told me Ghost’s previous owner lived alone. Every night at exactly 11:11 p.m., he would sit on his couch, look up at the ceiling, and tap his hand three slow times against his leg.

Ghost would lie right beside him.

Every night.

The man paused and said quietly,
“That was their moment… just something small they shared before sleep.”

I didn’t notice the tears until they were already falling.

All this time… Ghost wasn’t reacting to anything strange.

He was remembering.

Holding onto a routine from someone he loved… someone who wasn’t here anymore.

But the routine still was.

After the man left, I sat on the floor for a long time. Ghost came over, his massive white head incredibly gentle, and rested his snout on my knee, just like always.

That night, at 11:11, I didn’t watch from a distance.

I sat right beside him.

When he lifted his head and looked up, I gently tapped my hand three times on the couch cushion.

His short white tail moved.

Slow. Familiar. Certain.

And when he settled back down, he leaned closer into me, his heavy body pressing against mine more than he ever had before.

Now, every night at 11:11…

we do it together.

Same time.
Same three taps.

Not just his memory anymore.

Ours. ❤️

05/02/2026

Awww his clunky clumsy self is doing his best lol. I love to see a bully breed working. He will be better than a GSD in the end 😊