It's not often that an author emails you and asks your blessing to use what is essentially the title of one of your own books. But I got an email in January from Pilley Bianchi, the daughter of Dr. John W. Pilley, who not only made his dog Chaser famous, he changed our expectations of a canine's cognitive potential. Pilley sent her apologies for the title of her upcoming book, For the Love of Dog, knowing it is a close copy of the title my book, For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend. She explained she had little choice in the title and wondered if I might be able to review the book. (We authors are stunningly helpless sometimes when it comes to covers and titles--I had to fight like a tiger to get the cover proposed--horrific!--for The Other End of Read More

I'm so curious what you think of what's happening in this video. As you can see, it's label suggests that the dam is "teaching her puppies to be calm." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHBe0jT6S3U        (Video from the YouTube channel of Sent from Heaven) What I'm especially interested in is the reaction I got when I posted this on Facebook yesterday. Many people agreed with my evaluation that "teaching calm" is actually "weaning the puppies." But others had stronger reactions, including " . . . this behavior from the moma would be a red flag for me. . .," and "This is heartbreaking to watch." Others were worried about the effect that the dam's behavior will have on the puppies, suggesting that they will be traumatized by what happened. Certainly there are plenty of body Read More

Last week we traveled to the Rush Creek Sheepdog Trial outside of Sidney, Ohio. We took it slow, took two days to get there and two days back, and every day I felt grateful for how fun it is to travel with Skip and Maggie. Our meandering trip--lots of small roads off the interstate--meant three different hotel rooms, multiple stops at rest areas, and lots of time with the dogs in the car. Given the season, I thought it would be good to have a conversation about what makes it fun, and safe, to travel with dogs. What follows is not a comprehensive guide, that would be a book, but some ideas to get our discussion started. (Speaking of books, do you have one you like on traveling with dogs? Here's one I found, but I haven't read it myself.) First off, safety in the Car: No dogs loose in Read More

So, last year Jim built me some beautiful raised beds so that I could grow veggies without fighting the jungle of weeds that encroach all my gardens like an advancing army. The beds are so high that I don’t have to bend over to tend them—Jim actually had to make one shorter when I realized I wouldn’t be able to reach the top of the peas without a ladder. We filled the bottoms with logs, and the top 2/3 with expensive soil that the dirt dude, who was highly recommended, guaranteed me would be perfect for growing vegetables. And then I made a foolish mistake and didn’t have the soil tested, it looking rich and black and wonderful. And thus, the results are a testament to the inevitable duo of gardening: triumph and failure. The chard is luxuriously healthy, and the peas have a necklace of Read More

Wow. I just listened to the first episode of Season Four of Michael Shikashio's podcast, The Bitey End of the Dog. He interviews a range of great thinkers related to canine aggression in his podcast, including, this season, Karen London and Mark Beckoff. But the first episode was with me, focusing on trauma in dogs. I don't usually listen to podcasts I've done after they've been recorded, but this time I did, and was reminded how Michael's knowledge, compassion, and insight, make him an exceptional podcast host and canine expert. I think you'll agree when you listen. But before you do, a warning: This is no "beach read." Both Michael and I are both flat out honest about how our own personal traumas have informed our perspective on dog training. Michael, bravely and brilliantly, shares Read More