Hard Goodbyes

This week has been one filled sadness and new beginnings.

We lost one of our fosters, Flora, last Wednesday. She declined quickly as she just couldn't fight the illness that ravaged her little body. For her short life, she was loved immensely and will always be remembered.Owen and Duncan are doing well and are living with a different foster family. This was my first foster 'gig' in years and was an emotional trip I was not prepared to take. Its easy to forget when looking at puppies rough housing, chewing on your toes and barking for attention that they are still babies and susceptible to illness.

Another hard blow was a dear friend loosing her heart dog in a freak accident. Another reminder that life is precious. There are no words that can fill the hole in someones heart when they loose a family member.

This week was also the grand opening of Finish Forward Dogs training studio. Although our friend and her dogs presents were missed at the festivities, the purpose of the studio is to help others enhance the relationships with their 'heart' dogs and to help make everyday they spend with their dogs fun, full of laughter and joy. If dogs teach us anything its that life must go on.

So I dedicate this blog to Bounce and Flora...as its dogs like these that keep me and many other trainers, rescuers and dog lovers doing what we do. They will always be remembered and loved.

Tribal Language

I was confronted this week with an issue I was well aware of in the dog training world, but have never faced personally. Anyone who trains, competes, shows or works in rescue are probably aware of the great division that lies between these tribes, and within those worlds lies more layers of tribes.

Within trainers there are methodologies, philosophies and personalities which can either divide or unite. In the shelter world it can be measured by the time one spends with shelter dogs, not dogs in general, that determines their knowledge base. In the breeding world there are divisions between 'pet people' and 'competitive people' which I think is a little strange because I would like to think that a buyer who is going to compete is also a 'pet person.'

I guess my point is that because these divisions exist, they can sometimes get in the way of accomplishing something bigger than ego or territory. Perhaps an awareness of these divisions can make us, in the dog world, be able to talk about them and even look beyond them.

I am certainly not perfect. I also look at trainers with a critical eye and pass my judgements (a certain popular TV dog trainer comes to mind). No, I have no plans to hold hands with this "celebrity" and sing 'It's a Small World'... but I am making an effort to see some value in what he tries to communicate on TV. When asked about his training methods, I tell my students that taking dog training advice from a TV dog trainer is like taking child rearing advice from Roseanne Barr. So, thanks to them, ... I get a joke (albeit a bad one) and initiates a conversation without my hackles going up.

I have found that having the opportunity to collaborate with others in the training world has not only opened a lot of doors, it has also given me this fantastic network of friends, colleagues and mentors that I can reach out to.

Back from 'Who Dat' Nation

My husband and I just spent an awesome couple of days in New Orleans...home of the Saints football team (and, in case you haven't heard, superbowl champs ) and the most colorful characters I have ever encountered. There is just something (the air?) about the south that makes one slow down & enjoy the day. It forces you to laugh easier, smile more & eat slower. I Listened to music, walked through art galleries and ate some of the best dang food ever made. I spoke to people with names like Ms. Cricket, Wally and Midge...and couldn't help but like each one of them (how can you NOT like someone named Ms. Cricket?)

But this being a 'dog blog', I should mention that I did meet some very nice dogs. One in particular was a black lab who hung out in a out door jazz bar on Bourbon St. Among all the craziness going on and the music playing away, this dog never lifted his head off the pavement. Unleashed and cooler than cool.

I took a picture of him, but being a technological nit-wit...I accidentally deleted it...so his image is only in my memory. So, I strongly encourage everyone to take a trip down and stop by Cafe Beignet at Musical Legends Park on Bouron St and listen to the Steamboat Willie Jazz Band, and meet the very cool dog whose' name I didn't get.