Retirement is a peculiar thing. Humans, even those who thought they were not all that fond of the job they did, sometimes find themselves at loose ends when they no longer have that singular thing they did each day. Work is something that can give us a sense of purpose in the world. a very young See Ya, just starting her service dog journey See Ya is almost ten years old and still working. This is longer than many service dogs stay in their jobs, I’m sure there are people who think it is...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
The snow and deep freeze of the last weeks, balanced like another boulder on the already rocky year we've been having here at DPU, juggling Kiss's chemo, See Ya's mystery illness and the less than stellar economy while trying to keep up with training and entertaining three younger dogs, might have buried us like an avalanche, were it not for the stupid stuff. Step right up and take your chances Sometimes people, including me, train for titles, for ribbons, for greater goals. Concrete training...
2 months ago • 1 min read
My children grew up knowing animals. Just like farm kids growing up intimately understanding cattle, combines and baling twine, mine knew how to tame birds, train cats, and help out with the dogs on movie sets. They were raised like animals too. Maybe not quite the same, but by the time I had kids I'd been raising and training animals for a while, I was starting to get a hang of how to relax and let them show me what they needed. Animals had already shown me that the more I worried about...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Anyone could be forgiven for imagining that my dogs spend a lot of time being trained. My TikTok, instagram and Facebook are filled with them doing all kinds of things. I’m a professional trainer. What else would one expect? In fact, they mostly act like animals. We share a life together. Am I ‘the boss’? I am the human of the household, and we live in a human based society, so that puts me in a unique position of power. I make all the rules and decisions. I choose what they eat, how much and...
5 months ago • 2 min read
How do we hold our dogs? We hold them in our hands when they are born, tiny beings breathing our dreams. They fill our hearts and break them. picture credit Chris Ott We live along side each other, sharing intimacies and indignities, secrets we might never utter to a human soul. They show us how to laugh over and over again. And how to cry unashamedly. We teach, we learn. Both of us foolish and wise by turns. My house is run by the rhythm of the dogs in it. Their lives and needs. Animals have...
6 months ago • 1 min read
An oldie but goodie, ARE YOU SHY? Logic isn't shy, but this is a favorite trick of hers. Since we have quite a few new subscribers, I thought it was time to post this one again. It's a fun trick to teach and a good way to spend a rainy day or two as we head into Fall. Then you'll have another fun thing to show off when you see family for the holidays. Or just for cute pictures or whatever! Click below for a free little course on how to teach 'ARE YOU SHY?' (you might have to register, it's...
6 months ago • 1 min read
ARE WE THERE YET? SPOILER ALERT - The answer is always no. I'm not a big 'no' person. I much prefer to look at what's right than what's wrong. When I'm training dogs, rehearsing and repeating things I want more of will always give me more bang for my buck than trying to figure out ways to thwart them while they are being wrong. Avoid the yuck. But when it comes to destinations, that's a bit of a different story. There can be a sense when raising a puppy that it's a finite thing. That one day...
8 months ago • 1 min read