I had a moment of pause the other morning when I went to feed the dogs their breakfast. I rattled the dog kibble in their bowls. It was still early morning and Scout, the female wirehaired pointer, and her yellow lab confederate, Drake, were both Johnny on the spot. Our geriatric male Clumber spaniel,...
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“Nice leather sofa you got there…would be a shame if something happened to it.” Their eyes carry the intensity of a protection racket courier picking up the weekly envelope of cash. We have rituals at our house. The day starts with the making of the oatmeal, which includes adding blueberries to the mix. Frozen...
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My mother had a mantra that she would recite during times of collapse. It wasn’t as if she was speaking to anyone, but more of a communication with the universe. In a low voice, she would say, “I have given up hope and now I feel much better.” This always left me confused because...
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I open most of my Snake Safe (rattlesnake aversion) classes by telling my folks, “I’m going to tell you something and you won’t believe it until you watch it today. Rattlesnakes are invisible to dogs.” That is a simple declarative statement, yet people don’t really grasp that I mean that literally. A rattlesnake can be on the ground...
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What you’ll learn in this episode: How to prepare to bring in a new, older dog (not a puppy) What to expect when you bring home a new dog What is a check cord and how to use one on the trail How to properly put an e-collar on your dog How to use...
READ MORE What you’ll learn in this episode: The joys and struggles involved with intentionally creating a community of dogs along with their owners (a pack!) What exactly is That Dane Bar: Bark Park & Brews? Great Danes: personalities, training, utilizing as dog park monitors “Reading” dogs and their owners to keep the park and the...
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I tend to be careful about the things I choose to react to…I once heard a line in a cowboy Western years ago, where the lead character admonished another person with the line, “I let people kill their own snakes.” I’ve tried to live by those words of wisdom, letting others fight their own...
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How many dogs? That’s a question folks need to ask themselves. I had a conversation the other day with a friend who just brought a second dog into his family. This was after an older dog had recently passed, bringing their family dog number back down to one. As parents, they were very careful...
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It matters how you start a thing. This is particularly true when applied to starting a Free Range Dog from puppyhood. People often have a vision of life with their dog- things they would like to do with them and places they would like to go. In the case of the Free Range Dog,...
READ MORE What you’ll learn about off-leash Free Range Dog hiking with a group of dogs: Dogs who run together on a trail and/or who live together become a pack Dog packs learn to respond to commands, such as “Pull Over” on a trail, as a group Dogs communicate with and learn from each other Hiking...
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