Dog training Archive
Close to You
After Richard and I made the commitment to adopt our rescue mutt—but before we met him and brought him home—we visited a pet supply store for the first time in years. We perused aisle after aisle of brushes and beds and bones, and we pawed through piles of sweaters, toys, and collars. I tried hard
Category: Dog accessories
Tough Guy
At home, with Richard and me, Willie is sweet and docile, perfectly content in our routines, including walks and playtime at regular intervals. He hardly ever makes a sound – and for few months we weren’t sure he even could. Willie sleeps a lot, he likes to cuddle beside me when I read, and he
Category: Dog
Dog In A Box
With just a couple of exceptions, Willie has slept inside a wire crate every night since “gotcha day”, the day when Richard and I first laid eyes on him at the Spring Valley park and ride following his thousand-mile road trip from Central Louisiana. While he pretty much has the run of our house, the
Category: Dog
Bicycle Outlaw
A few days after I received and assembled our new “Doggie Ride” bike trailer, I rigged our bikes onto the van, put the dog trailer inside, and drove with Richard and Willie up to the Ashokan Reservoir. I’d once lived in this area for eight years, with the mountains and water a daily feature in
Category: Dog
Willie’s New Ride
Some months ago Richard and I were in Monterey, walking along Ocean View Boulevard near Point Cabrillo, when we stopped to watch a large colony of sea lions snoozing on a stony beach. We stood about fifty yards from the water’s edge, our fingers hooked into the chain link fence separating us from dozens of
Category: Dog
Dog Toys
Before we even brought him home, our dog, Willie, had a collection of toys we'd purchased in anticipation of his arrival.
Category: Dog accessories
Slippery Slope
“We’re never taking that dog into the bed with us,” Richard said before we even brought Willie home. “He’s never even going to see upstairs,” I added. “There’s just no reason for him to go there. And this way, we can be sure the bedrooms don’t have any dog hair or allergens that might disturb
Category: Dog
Cat Toys
Each time we bring Willie with us on a visit to the home of our friends Tom and Erik, Willie adopts one of their cat’s toys. “Uh-oh,” I said the first time I saw Willie trotting through the dining room with a catnip mouse in his mouth, “Willie filched one of Fuzzy’s mice.” “That’s okay,”
Category: Dog accessories
The Power of Biscuits
A few weeks after my conversation about dog training with Ann, I brought Willie with me on a writing retreat at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in Rodanthe, North Carolina. One morning at sunrise the two of us left the cottage and walked across the dune to an empty beach where I let him off
Category: Dog
Training Camp
So just what’s involved in training my dog in a few of the basics? Each night at bedtime I’ve been reading a few pages the Monks of New Skete book — a gift from my friends Joe and Kathleen – but I’m not reading enough fast enough and besides: reading isn’t going to help Willie
Category: Dog