For those visitors who are new to Karmic Ally Coaching’s blog, Miss Coco is my beloved fur baby who passed away on 5^th January 2021. She continues to motivate and inspire me.

This post is a little different from my normal posting how to, educational and professional development posts.

Yet, Miss Coco is integral to my business blog. She was my Muse for my early blog posts and has appeared from time to time in different posts including one on empathy.

Losing her 18 days after a contractor used a drill meant only for demolishing buildings or roads inside our apartment building creating noise at high decibel levels that led to the first of many seizures and later loss of life will always be a personal tragedy for me.

Despite my efforts, I couldn’t get her justice and that has been painful.

That’s when close friends and well-wishers suggested I write about her and when I was ready to put pen to paper, the words started to flow.

When I found it difficult to write, I recorded my memories and edited the transcripts.

7 months later, I published Miss Coco: The story of a Princess Pup who changed my life forever on Amazon.

This Kindle ebook is a labour of love with no plans to commercialize it and no marketing plan.

I was thrilled to find it started to rank in the Hot New Releases category both in Amazon USA and Amazon India.

Click here to visit Amazon India

Background to Miss Coco’s Kindle ebook

This is the story of my beloved Miss Coco Chanel Shukla, who was my friend, companion, pet kid and a lot more than I can articulate.

She was, as my mother lovingly called her, a Princess Pup.

Miss Coco was a gift to my mother when the last of our miniature brown dachshunds, Bruno passed away 5 months short of his 18^th birthday leaving a void that was unbearable.

It’s another thing that Miss Coco and I forged a deep bond quite similar to that of a mother and her child. My mother became more of a grandmother to this delightful little dog whose passion for life, strong willpower, headstrong in the most lovable way.

Her deep compassion for humans and animals alike has left an indelible mark on my soul.

We were lucky Bruno lived as long as he did because he was our emotional support system after we lost my father. When he died after an aneurysm, it was a double loss for us.

He had buffered my father’s death for us and suddenly it was just Mummy and me and no Bruno.

The arrival of Miss Coco was a blessing and she carved her own special place in our home and our hearts.

If Bruno had helped us cope with our grief, then Coco was the furry pet child who showed us how to move forward.

Losing her the way we did hurts. All I ever wanted was for her to have a happy old age.

That didn’t happen as this book will tell you. I want the world to know what a special dog she was . Especially how she reached out from beyond the veil to help me in my grieving process.

This book is my humble tribute to a furry family member who gave me many happy memories before becoming a memory.

The Princess Pup becomes a Celebrity Pup!

Miss Coco was already a celebrity having appeared in Dogs & Pups magazine numerous times including an article.

Her celebrity status was given the final stamp when Cindy Kochis of Pen to Paper Press invited me to do a podcast interview. We spoke about Miss Coco, the book and a lot more about writing a book.

I am grateful to Cindy for giving me this opportunity.

I invite you to listen in to Episode #043 titled The Best-Selling Author and the Princess Pup below or at the Pen to Paper Press website.

Let me say this right off the bat, if anyone you know says they don’t have any problems, they’re fibbing – big time. We all have problems at some point or the other.

The magnitude may vary or we might have taught ourselves to reframe the situation to make it seem like a learning opportunity or a challenge to be overcome.  A problem is a problem. It’s how we deal with it that matters and that’s where my furry companion Coco the Cock A Tzu has it all worked out.

I often look at my current canine companion Coco and think, that the saying ‘it’s a dog’s life’ is way off the mark. I mean, she has it all – a loving family, plenty of toys, good nutritious meals, visits to the vet when she is not well in an owner driven car and a housing complex filled with people who worry if she is not out with me.

The furry child’s antics amuse my friends and I’ve had people tell me that Miss Coco deserves her own Facebook Fan Page.

But I realise that her life is good because of her perspective and attitude towards life and the challenges that she faces as a sole dog in a house filled with humans. She knows inherently that there are no problems, only solutions and deals with issues quite differently than we humans do.

If there is a puddle of water on the morning walk path – no issue- she just looks at it and changes the direction of her walk slightly to avoid getting her paws wet and continues.

This last example I think is part of her learning. As a puppy, if she saw a rain puddle, she’d jump right in and get wet which meant she’d be put in the bathroom sink and have her paws washed by a grumpy pet parent which isn’t as much fun as her regular baths in my lap which are preceded by grooming to get matted hair out and the entire pre-bath ritual.

More reason why I can genuinely say Coco knows the art of problem solving.

We all have problems in our everyday lives. Some are small ones that are dealt with easily so that they don’t appear to be problems and some are of a greater magnitude that require us to use our problem solving skills. It all comes down to our approach.

3 Canine Problem Solving Skills even Humans can use

A dog approaches a problem with an open mind and engages in possibility thinking.  As humans, many of us approach issues with annoyance and a negative attitude thinking of it as a hindrance rather than an opportunity to learn and grow. We set ourselves up for failure even before we begin.

When Coco’s ball rolls under the sofa, she gets excited and tries various options to retrieve the ball. Each time this happens, she finds new ways to solve her dilemma. She is persistent.

As a human, we most probably get frustrated if we cannot solve an issue immediately and look for easy short term solutions rather than looking at the big picture.

I’ve shared my observations with other canine companions and it appears their pet buddies do the same. I’m convinced Coco & furry company can teach us humans a thing or two. Problem solving is not only a valuable skill; it is also an art and based on my observations, I suggest the following subset of skills that are required.

Problem Solving Skill 1: Creative Thinking

The first skill is creative thinking. You can call it thinking out of the box. The ideas will flow if you engage your imagination during a brainstorming session. Write down your ideas on a piece of paper.

Problem Solving Skill 2: Objective Evaluation

The second step is to check each option that you have written for sound reasoning and weed out the unachievable options. Make sure that you are objective in your approach.

Problem Solving Skill 3: Open mind

The third and most important step is to approach each problem that you encounter with an open mind and positive attitude. That is the only way you will not only find solutions but better ones that work.

Now for the humans to prove that we too know how to solve problems.

Have any tips you’d like to share? Or a nugget of what your pet friend –dog, cat, gold fish or turtle has taught you? Do share with Coco and me in the comments box below.

PS. Coco doesn’t coach but her pet parent mentored by this wise little dog does!

Sometimes, the only way to solve a problem is to prepare for change. Do you find it easy to adapt to new circumstances? Find out your change management style with The Karmic Ally Coaching Quiz by clicking here or on the image below. It’s on the house!

Written By: Vatsala Shukla