Good day from your all American pooch over the Pond.
It's been almost a year since my relocation to Blighty from good ole' Texas, over which period I have enjoyed spending time with my new family and hopefully helped them on their exciting StressBusting™ Journey.
As the now ageing k9 I am, I impose upon them for fewer walks nowadays, but they are thankfully compensating for this by building this into other aspects of their daily routine, such as walking Her Majesty to the nursery regularly rather than driving her (saving fuel cost in the process!).
And I am pleased to observe through my involvement with the family that Her Majesty the Baby is very much at home in the company of pets of all shapes and sizes with no allergies to speak of, a big plus given the immense StressBusting™ capacity of us house pets and other animals to those whose life we form part of or come into contact with - see our posts entitled "Keep an eye out for nearby Stressbusting™ Activities" and "The importance of recharging to maintain optimum efficiency".
And family has appreciatively never treated me as they would a human baby as, frankly, whilst best intentioned, that does us pooches no good at all.
In other words, feeding us brownies does not get you any "brownie points"!
I enjoy a healthy diet of k9 specific nutrients that keep aches, pains and ailments away and puts approximately 30% on my already limited life expectancy as a valued four legged friend.
They also have me fully insured, which gives me, as well as them, immense StressBusting™ peace of mind given the cost of vets fees in the event that I became poorly.
Perhaps not surprisingly to me as a pooch brought up in the "U S of A", Independence Day is not a big deal here in Blighty.
This is unfortunate, because it should continue to hold resonance in the bigger picture as a reminder of how important it is for communities to co-exist in a harmonious way that validates all the communities in question to avoid polarisation or escalation.
After all, "independence", with all its constituent characteristics of freedom from dictat, open opportunities, ability to plan securely for the future and the potential to be rewarded commensurately for worthy endeavours, is a concept deserving of celebration in its own right.
For this reason and on behalf of all communities, I raise a paw to "Independence Day" in the wider sense, as a reminder of much that is good in the modern world.
Big StressBusting™ love
Hank 🐶🐕🦺👍🥳 xxxxx