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Christine Nicole Ferris
Lessons from Lad: What My Dog Taught Me About Life, Love, Leadership, and Loss
About The Book
In "Lessons from Lad," Christine Nicole Ferris offers a poignant and insightful journey into the lessons learned from her beloved rough collie, Lad. Although their time together was brief, the impact Lad left on Christine's life was profound. This book delves deep into the heart-wrenching story of losing not just a cherished pet but a long-held dream and the transformative wisdom that emerged from that loss.
Through fifty-two beautifully crafted lessons, Christine shares Lad's enduring legacy. These lessons are a mosaic of joy, heartache, and enlightenment, reflecting on the nuances of life with a companion who was much more than a pet. Christine's narrative explores the depth of the bond between a human and their animal companion, and the powerful life truths this relationship can reveal.
**Key Lessons from the Book**
- The Power of a Dream Realized: Christine's journey with Lad underscores the significance of fulfilling lifelong dreams and the profound joy they bring.
- Embracing Life's Impermanence: The story highlights the importance of cherishing every moment and acknowledging the fleeting nature of life's joys.
- Learning Through Loss: Christine's experience illustrates how loss can be a catalyst for personal growth, teaching resilience and the capacity to find meaning in grief.
- Discipline and Self-Control: The book offers insights into the importance of self-leadership, both in training a dog and in life, teaching the value of setting boundaries and the strength in saying no.
- Spiritual Reflection and Guidance: The narrative weaves in spiritual elements, offering lessons in how life experiences, even those involving pets, can point us toward deeper spiritual truths and connections.
“Lessons From Lad” is more than just a story about a dog; it’s a journey into the heart of what it means to love deeply and experience God's power to redeem our most profound losses.
About The Author
Christine Nicole Ferris
Ten years of participation in the Elkhart County 4-H program cultivated Christine Nicole Ferris’s love for public speaking and canine training, two passions that have shaped her life and career as a canine leadership trainer. The founder of Trustee Training Services, she is a John Maxwell certified trainer, speaker, and coach. She uses her relationship with her golden retriever Trustee and young collie Lad’s Legend to illustrate leadership principles. Christine and her husband David live in north-central Indiana and together teach leadership with a K9 component, investing in their community, public schools, and libraries as K9 therapy teams.
Quotes from... Lessons from Lad: What My Dog Taught Me About Life, Love, Leadership, and Loss
[Lad] taught me that patience requires more strength than force and that meekness is more powerful than anger. I’m grateful to Lad for teaching me that I must lead myself well before I can successfully lead others.
I’m grateful to Lad for teaching me that whole-hearted commitment is better than half-hearted compliance. I valued Lad’s cooperation much more because it wasn’t automatic. When he chose to submit to my will, it came from a place of strength, not weakness.
Maintaining a right attitude is more powerful than manufacturing right actions. Choosing to stay calm and in control of myself will always give me the greatest amount of influence in any situation.
Lad helped me understand the power of telling myself “no” in the right areas of life. I’m grateful to Lad for teaching me that the more I say “No” to myself, the more others will say “Yes” to me.
Lad’s influence on my life was completely positive. His resilience, loyalty, sensitivity, kindness, vivacity, determination, and persistence are all qualities I wish to possess in greater measure, and Lad modeled them very well.
Comparison is futile when it comes to grief. Grief is a process, and the feelings that come with it are real, regardless of what you are grieving. I’m thankful that through the loss of Lad I’m learning that grief is grief and that comparing one loss to another will never help the heart to heal.
I’m grateful that through the gift of Lad’s Legend I’m learning how life-giving it is to love again. Fear and love are incompatible with each other. Choosing to love again is the best antidote to the fear of loss.