Time for something new.

Buffy, laying peacefully in long grass, enjoying the sun on her face, at one of our campsites years ago.

I took a long pause from this site. In fact, just a couple months ago I wasn’t sure I would even renew the website or the domain. Since I started my own dog training and behaviour consulting business, most of my effort went into that platform. I focused on writing educational content for blog posts and creating social media content to market the business. There wasn’t really a place in my life for this website/blog/sharing space anymore.

Then things changed this year.

Buffy, my k9 soulmate, the dog who brought joy and light to my life every day, passed away suddenly. She was only 9, the kind of 9 that you really think must more be a 5-6 year old dog. It came out of nowhere. One January morning we were playing tug and fetch in the snow, four days later I was holding her, telling her I loved her while she left me. One day maybe I will share more about that horrific week, how I tried everything I could, begged the specialist to operate anyways, but I lost the battle. There wasn’t anything to do. Cancer took her and the worst part about cancer is that you can’t beat the living shit out of it like every cell in your body would like to.

I have felt quite loss without her. Cody is still with us and I’m grateful every day for that, but like with people, every relationship with a dog is unique and he can’t fill the Buffy-sized-hole she left behind.

Once I could handle it, I took to writing. Slowly pulling together stories from our life together, while also reflecting on everything she taught me. Writing has been the only thing that has felt right, that doesn’t require me to convince myself to do it even if I don’t feel like it.

So I’m re-starting this space to share some of my writing. I want to share stories. Stories about Buffy. Stories about adventures. Stories about others. I want to share the wisdom I learned from her. I want to share how I’m trying to incorporate more of her wisdom into my life.

Follow along for stories about life, adventure, dogs, and Buffy. I promise you’ll learn something, or at the very least read some funny stories.

Tips for Adventuring in the Mountains with Dogs

IMG_0236

Buffy and Cody take in the views on a water pumping break near our backcountry campsite in the Skoki area.

I like to adventure (scramble, climb, hike, sleep in the backcountry, splitboard, cross country ski, trail run, etc…) It keeps me fairly busy on my weekends and as much as possible, I like to bring my adventure mutts along with me. I own two rad adventure dogs: Cody and Buffy. Both have summited mountains, been on backcountry treks, skijored and been backcountry skiing with me.This article is all about some of my tips for having fun in the mountains with your dog safely. It goes without saying though, use your judgement to adapt these to your dog and your adventures. What’s right for us, is not going to work for everyone. Continue reading