Summer summer summertime!
Ah summer! Jim and I got to take a road trip out east to see friends and family. It was beyond wonderful to see them all. (FYI, we were super covid cautious, and felt lucky to get it squeezed in just before things started getting critical again.) We got to see dear friends, Meg Boscov and Randy Brown after waaaaay too long. Here they are with Jim, at an astounding public garden outside of Philadelphia, Chanticleer. It's been called "the most romantic, imaginative, and exciting public garden in America" (so says their website), and I can see why. I could spend days there. If you love gardens and are anywhere near the area, it's a must. (Pennsylvania readers--been there?) Meg is my Read More
Talking to Other Dog Owners–Tread Carefully
I'm taking some summery time off this week, and so am repeating a post from May, 2014, How to Talk to Other Dog Owners. Wanna talk about it? Here it is: When I was seeing a lot of clients I could always tell when I was tired because I started working with the dog, rather than training the owners. Perhaps that’s the irony of language: It makes communication easier in one sense, and harder in another. Things were so simple and clear when I was working with someone else’s dog. Trying to influence the behavior of the people felt much more complicated. It is not that I didn’t enjoy it–I love people, they are one of my two favorite species. It’s just that it was harder to work with them Read More
New Book! “Becoming a Therapy Dog Team”
Our friend and colleague, Katha Miller-Winder, a prolific contributor to the comment section of this very blog ("Kat"), has published a valuable book that gives guidance and advice to those who'd like to join that special group of people and dogs who make the world a better place because of their efforts. Becoming a Therapy Dog Team is so good that I bought 20 copies to donate to the team Tootsie and I worked with, Pet Pals of Madison, WI. Whether you're an old pro or interested in getting started, this book belongs on your reading list. [Note that much of what I'll be talking about is really AAA--Animal Assisted Activities, but I'm using "therapy" here loosely because it is so widely used. Read More