January 29: endless love

January 18: shit eating grin

January 16: yoga fail

January 25: everyone else is doing it

January 21: stick

Gotcha!

Happy Gotcha Day Hazel! It certainly has been an interesting year with this little nugget...

Opportunity Barks

Last month I dropped off my little nugget at Sweet Spot Farm in Quakertown for two weeks of Boarding School. 

Hazel has been in my life for almost a year. During that time, it’s become apparent that she’s a bit fearful and uncertain. 

One trainer suggested that in her previous life she might have been locked in a basement or chained in a yard. Therefore, she was never exposed to the world around her, nor taught how to interact with it. I couldn’t imagine going through life being afraid of everything. It must be an uncomfortable feeling. 

I had several options for a board to train program, but chose this one because the owner did not promise that my dog would be returned to me with a large, newly developed skill set. Instead, she vowed to work within Hazel's ability level.

When I went to pick her up, I got a better sense of her abilities and limitations. Moving forward, this is something that I will keep in mind.

There was an incident that happened with a friend of mine last week. It made me think of this. Maybe I need to reassess and be more realistic of what that person is capable of, instead of having unrealistic expectations.