The Weekly High Five 🐾 Hey Reader,This is the hottest summer on record in Boston. Two heat waves in July alone, one of them pushing 100 degrees. If you had a dog park trip on the calendar during any of that, there's a decent chance it didn't go the way you hoped. Before you decide what it meant, read this. A crowded park is one of the hardest setups you can hand a dog. Nobody's managing space. Everyone's too hot and too close together. And the second your dog can't create room for himself,...
11 days ago • 2 min read
The Weekly High Five 🐾 Hey Reader,Archie is a young mixed breed I've been working with in my Real World program. In a structured training session, he's a star. Focused, responsive, takes every cue like he wrote the lesson plan. Then his owner walks him through their own neighborhood and it falls apart. A dog barks from a porch and Archie locks on. Pulling, spinning, done listening. His owner asked me the question I hear from almost every family: "He knows this stuff. Why is he like this out...
25 days ago • 2 min read
The Weekly High Five 🐾 Hey Reader,Think back to last year. Somewhere around the first boom, your dog vanished. Wedged behind the bed. Shaking under the kitchen table, ears flat, not touching the treat you slid over. You stayed close and waited it out until the last one faded near midnight. Now it's almost here again, and the thought lands in your stomach. I should have started months ago. Too late now. Here's the deal. You didn't blow it. You're mixing up two different jobs. Training a dog...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
The Weekly High Five 🐾 Hey Reader,Last July 4th, your dog found the smallest, darkest spot in the house. The bathtub. The back of a closet. Flat behind the couch, panting, not coming out for anyone. You tried to coax them out. Maybe you held them. Maybe you sat on the floor nearby until the last boom faded around midnight. And somewhere in there you probably landed where a lot of people do. They'll get used to it. It's one night a year. We'll ride it out again. Let's be real. Riding it out is...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
The Weekly High Five 🐾 Hey Reader,You unclip the leash at the park. You call your dog's name. You watch them blow right past you like you're not even there. So you call again, louder. Still nothing. They're already onto the other dog, the smell, the kid with the ball. And you're left standing there feeling it confirm the thing you've been afraid of. Maybe my dog is stubborn. Maybe I did something wrong. Here's the deal. Your dog isn't stubborn. The park is the hardest test you will ever hand...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
The Weekly High Five 🐾 Hey Reader,We made it to Friday. Barely. This week my own dog fell apart a little, and so did my week. The days ran long. Early heat pushed my walks to weird hours. Dinner kept landing late. By last night she was pacing the kitchen, following me room to room, unable to drop into the settle she usually finds on her own. Nothing happened to her. Something happened to her week. If your dog has felt off these last few days (clingy, restless, barking at stuff that never used...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
The Weekly High Five 🐾 Hey Reader,A few months ago I was walking with Maisie, a six-month-old golden retriever, and her owner. Maisie had been with her since she was eight weeks old. They'd done the work. Bowl training. Hand-feeding in the kitchen. Maisie nailed her name a thousand times indoors. Then they hit the sidewalk and it was like none of it had happened. We were halfway down the block when Maisie spotted another dog across the street. Lock on. Treats vanished. The owner's voice...
2 months ago • 2 min read
The Weekly High Five 🐾 Hey Reader,I sat in a living room a while ago with a mom I won't forget. Newborn baby down the hall. A cat doing cat things in the corner. An English Lab puppy named Nova who could not settle when guests showed up. The week before, the family had set out a licky mat with pumpkin (Nova's favorite) to keep her busy when their dinner guests arrived. Nova rolled it up in her mouth and ran it to the visitors. The mom looked at me, exhausted, and said, "She just needs...
3 months ago • 1 min read
The Weekly High Five 🐾 Hey Reader,A family I work with had been doing everything right. Short sessions. High-value treats. Consistent reps. Every morning before the walk, their dog would sit without hesitation, sometimes twice, right there in the kitchen. They felt good about it. Like they finally had it figured out. Then they took him to a new trail on Sunday. Mom called his name. Nothing. She called again. He was locked on something at the edge of the path, ears up, completely somewhere...
3 months ago • 2 min read