First Post

Greetings Muttz Lovers

I have been part of the blogging universe for quite some time. I finally decided to dedicate a blog solely to my passion, animals; most specifically dogs. I don't want this to be a cheezy ode to my Mutt, Sadie (above), but I must give credit where credit is due. She was a rescue from Ohio. 1/2 Border Collie and 1/2 Aussie Shepherd, you bet we've been busy - regardless of if I was ready for it or not.

This site is dedicated for a point of reference for Boston area dog lovers, owners, want-to-be-pet owners, and people who want to do more with their dogs than the normal "Sit" and "Please, God, Don't Bite the Mailman Again" commands.

I will be starting as a trainer with Zen Dog Training (see Sidebar for link) as the Frisbee Instructor in November of this year. My good friend and collegue, Gordon Fontaine started Zen Dog due to his undying love for dogs, training, and making people better communicators with their pets. We use positive training as a means to get the desired behavior from our K9 companions.

I have also been an active competitor in the YankeeFlyers Frisbee team for the last 2 years, serving as an officer this year. We compete and do Frisbee Demonstrations all over New England and the Mid-Atlantic States. If you would like a Frisbee Demo (schools, fairs, festivals, Dog-Days, etc), feel free to contact the Demo Coordinator through the Yankee Flyers site and we'll get something together.

A little about me and my background: I grew up in the backwoods of Maine breeding, training, and working with Huskies with my family until my teens. My teenage years were spent working and personally training to ride horses competitively. I realized dogs are more my size and speed. They also curl up with you at night, which is nice. I'm currently working towards my CPDT certification for training. The last two-and-a-bit years I have been working Full to Part time at the VCA Animal Hospital in Wakefield MA where I discovered that I love animals, I love working with animals, but I can't do much from behind a desk. I love to teach and be hands on. Gordon found me, and now we are learning from each other, and using that knowledge to communicate with people and dogs.

My ultimate goal with this site is to put up a useful site that has interesting articles, postings for what you can do with your dog, and have a place for people to go as a reference point to get answers. I may not have the answers- I don't pretend to know everything- but I do hope to get people thinking positively about their pets, their relationship with their K9 partner, and even to let people showcase their best 4-legged friend. If this site provides some information that prevents an animal from going to the shelter or being wrongfully euthanized, then my job is done. Also, if this site helps someone with training issues find the right method for them to communicate with their dog, then again, this site served its purpose. Even if discover a Dog Friendly Park in New England, share it so others can enjoy it, too!

To start things off nicely, feel free to introduce yourself, post a pic of your mutt in the comments section, and if your mutt is a shelter rescue, do tell your story.