Taylor Rae, a Georgia girl at heart, is now living her dream as a lifestyle blogger in Orange County, California. Taylor is a dog mom to her 5-year-old Morkie, Charlie, who she got in her sophomore year of college. Little Charlie is a certified emotional support animal and the pair does everything together!
Tell us about the most exciting thing you’ve done in the past 3 years.
The thing I’m most proud is graduating from Georgia State University in the Spring of 2018. It was really special to me to graduate in just 4 years, I’m the first grandchild in my family to do so! It wasn’t easy by any means. Working 2 jobs while taking a full-time course load and overcoming depression all at once was a lot to handle! As if I didn’t already have a full plate, I decided to get Charlie. And honestly I’m convinced that he’s the reason I was able to push myself in the way that I did.
If your dog could talk how do you think he’d describe you?
If Charlie could talk he’d probably call me crazy, affectionate, and hard-working. Crazy because I don’t have kids yet so Charlie really is my whole world and he gets all of my attention. Affectionate because I’ve always been a big hugger and there’s no way I’d shy away from cuddles. And, hard-working because Charlie often comes to work with me and has seen me in action!
What do you find to be the most challenging thing about being a pet-parent?
Let’s just say potty training when you’re in a city is not so fun! In the early stages, Charlie had to go out every 3-4 hours so we were constantly going up and down the elevator… accidents were very frequent.
A huge turning point was when I started to do stricter crate training on my vet’s advice. Ultimately the crate should be thought of as his safe space whereas I had thought of it as puppy prison. Giving Charlie his food in the crate helped him learn bladder control and soon the accidents were few and far between.
