It’s one thing to write about my training ideas, another to show you how they actually work in the real world. Red and I are close to the kind of relationship I really want in a dog. He is intense, odd sometimes,quirky. I have been listening to him carefully, applying my own training rules and techniques, encouraging the behaviors I like in a positive way. Red was trained as a herding dog before me, but he had never lived in a house or been housebroken or moved around in the human world much. So I have had a lot of training to do. We are close, we communicate with one another, I have been my own trainer with him, as I have been with Frieda.

This doesn’t mean trainers are necessary or useful, it means I need to be the primary architect of my training, and turn to others when I am stumped, if that happens. It hasn’t happened in awhile.  I don’t feel I really need another voice, another point-of-view coming between me and my dog. My own confidence is building. Frieda helped do that for me, I will never have a tougher task. I wanted to show you Red doing his outruns, something we do every day of his life, rain or shine. He helped inspire “Listening To Dogs: How To Be Your Own Training Guru,” my e-book original now on sale where digital books are sold.

This week, I’m throwing all of my tools into the promotion of this book – there is no publisher, it is only me – my blog, Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest, my podcast and videos. It’s exciting. Come and see a dog in his element. It inspires me every day to train my dogs well and faithfully, I hope it inspires you.