Dog training Archive
Bad Dog
We came home tonight after our Ulster County Beekeepers Association meeting to find the kitchen floor around Willie’s crate completely surrounded by fluffy green poly-fil. He had ripped open the base of his gray fleece-covered doggie bed, pulled out all the stuffing, then somehow managed to push all the stuffing out through the bars of
Category: Dog
Puppy Love
Everyone loves puppies. They’re fuzzy and adorable little babies, and their size and vulnerability and cuteness prompt powerful instincts to protect and care for them. And to get out of bed in the middle of the night because they’re whining. And to cover our floors with wee-wee pads and clean up their accidents. And to
Category: Dog
Doggie Doctor
Willie has hiccups. He seems slightly alarmed and confused about this; each little urp makes his ears flop, and each time he hiccups he spins his head around to look at me. Did you do that? This happens to be the morning of our first trip to our local vet; Willie’s getting his first exam
Category: Dog
Lions and Tigers and Bears!
Yesterday Richard and I brought Willie along on a site visit to the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck in preparation for the upcoming Country Living Fair. Streams of melt water from the remaining piles of snow ran toward the drains as Andy, the site manager, led us and the rest of the show production team
Category: Dog
The Call of the Wild
The morning after our first significant snowfall, Willie’s world was covered in cold, white powder ten inches deep. I shoveled pathways around the house and out to the studio, then came back to let Willie outside. He stepped out the door onto a path the width of a shovel blade, a wall of snow on
Category: Dog
Hail Cesar
I don’t watch much TV and I’d never seen Cesar Millan’s show “Dog Whisperer,” but Mutts4Rescue strongly suggested reading his book, “Cesar’s Way,” in preparation for adopting a dog. Now, I’ve shared long stretches of my life with two other dogs, but I’d been “dogless” for several years and thought a refresher would be a
Category: Dog
A World of Turds
I never noticed before just how many turds cover the face of the earth, but my dog Willie seeks out every one. By some mysterious criteria known only to Willie, the turds divide themselves into three categories: turds to sniff, turds to roll in, or turds to eat. On our twice-daily walks I have now
Category: Dog
Foster Mom
I spoke at length with Keri, our (almost) new pup’s foster mom and adoption coordinator in Louisiana. Keri had lots of advice for me and had answers to all my questions. I scrambled to take notes and keep up with her. “Now barking and whining is all about attention and it’s best to deal with
Category: Dog
Anticipation
After nearly two weeks on the road – some of it work, some of it pleasure – this morning Richard and I are departing Savannah and heading for home. Bubbles began his journey home today, too; I check my watch and imagine that by now Rescue Road Trips has picked up from Keri, his “foster
Category: Dog