My Dog & I Archive

Our lives are moving very fast these days. We seem to be trying to fit so many tasks into  such a short amount of time. The “to do” lists of our days have become so dense that we never seem to be able to fulfill all the expectations. It is not surprising then, that the […]

There is nothing sadder than losing a companion that has shared your life for a decade or so and honestly, it doesn’t seem fair that our dog friends don’t hang around as long as we do… The fact is that their lifespan is simply not as long as ours and although we know this on […]

A recent email from one of my trainee dog’s owners provoked a lot of thought about this month’s topic… She was delighted to see her dog on a walk with all of my pack, not on leash, not rough housing and not running away but…was interested in hearing how the “training” was going. I did understand […]

Usually at this time of year I am writing about the snow and all the fun, cold stuff we are doing with our dogs BUT as the heavens would have it, we are apparently not going to have Winter until I get my first seeds planted… Sooo, I am going to write about my favorite […]

This my favorite and most useful command after “come”…  Because we humans need time to process our thoughts before action (some longer than others), it is essential to be able to ask your flying, supercharged or even simply clumsy dog partner to pause for a moment while we put our brains in gear.. I have […]

The first thing most people try to teach their dogs…The first place we go to (after “No!) when we run into trouble and the most misunderstood of all the commands…The “sit” command is seemingly the number one command that we attempt as amateur dog trainers and the command that owners often use to measure the […]

I know I usually try to keep my articles pretty light and newsy but this month I am going to talk about some basic handling. The first and most important thing to establish is that training your dog is mostly a mindset. You have to decide that you are going to make time to work […]

So, yes! This is my 40th article with LBSpy now Hashtag Lewisburg and high time I stopped for a heartfelt Thank You!! Arriving in Lewisburg three years ago, I had no idea how important this West Virginia Town would become to me. I simply stopped here, like so many others, to catch my breath and […]

Most humans crave touch. We like to be stroked and cuddled, we touch each other to emphasize a point and we hold hands to display affection. It is a way of connecting and reassuring, of soothing and comforting. We like it so much that we try to convince all the other creatures on the planet […]

So I am in the Dog Cabin, decorating – yes my Dog Cabin is my extended home! When a large hornet decided to join me… And I am shooing him out, waving my arms and “reasoning” with him…”No, Mr. Hornet, this is not a good place for you…You need to find another place to make […]