The First One...

“When we humanize dogs, we strip away from them the very essence of what makes them better than us.” - Brice Cavanaugh

Welcome to the Total Dog Blog.

This is where I will accomplish a few very important things. First, provide value. Period. This will not be typing just to type. Value led content is what we are doing. Then, current events that affect dogs and their owners will be mentioned. Also, special activities or events within our area of operation. We may also review products, give ideas for activities, etc.

I also encourage people to guide the direction of this. What do you want to read about? What questions do you have? What do you want to share? I will not provide a platform for spewing hate.

I want this to be an easy read and something that people look forward to. Fun things, factual information, opinions the make one think.

So, to start off this journey, I will pose the question: What does your dog mean to you? Please answer below!

My last dog, Monk, was an amazing creature. He was a Dutch Shepherd of about 62 lbs. He lived to be 17 years old and was the picture perfect specimen of health up until his last 6 months. He was an athlete, and I treated him like one. He got acupuncture, acupressure, Canine Kinesthetics, massage and a great diet that I am certain prolonged his life. When his body finally had had enough, it was a rapid decline. I felt blessed by that in that when it came, I felt that we had really enjoyed a rich time together, and not a couple of final years where the struggles eat at you.

Monk was trained in explosives detection, personal protection, agility, high level obedience and more, as he was my walking billboard of what can be attained through a balanced relationship built on clear communication. I figured out what he wanted, I made it clear what I wanted, and we had an amazing symbiotic relationship.

Monk would stand on fire hydrants (he started a trend in the early 2000s), walk fence tops, figure eight between my legs and then go right into bite work. He worked primarily for a bumper, a toy used in the gun dog world. His prey drive was crazy, but he had an off switch.

Monk to me was a reflection of my patience, understanding, clarity and more. When he was acting like a knucklehead, most of the time I realized that he was just mirroring me. BAM! Kept me in check. He showed that the relationship that we have with our animals (and anyone/thing), is a gauge of our inputs, whether it be the quality, quantity, emotion etc.

Monk was so awesome...so awesome. I will certainly bring him up in future posts as he was a huge part of my life and did some amazing things. He also taught me a lot, held me in check and never BSed me. I miss my buddy. Throughout my career, I had several Military Working Dogs, an amazing Explosives Detector Dog (civilian contracting) and a couple of amazing working pets. But Monk was the bees knees. I miss you buddy!

So, tell me what your dog, current or past, means to you. We bring them into our lives for a reason. What is yours?