Sunday morning. I’m taking Maria out to breakfast. She is sorting through her yarn and will put it up for sale shortly on her Etsy studio page and write about it on her website, fullmoonfiberart.com. I love the new blue/gray skeins; she has a ton of roving.

I’ve scheduled several Dog Support meetings, two for today, one for tomorrow, and several for this coming week. I love the range of problems; it’s a great feeling to be able to put what I’ve learned to good and practical use.

One person has an issue with excessive dog licking; another wants to prepare her new dog for therapy work, a third has a small dog that is too aggressive to other dogs, and another is suffering terribly from the death of her dog. She is self-aware and knows this isn’t healthy; I have some good ideas for her to consider.

My idea is not to tell other people what to do but to support what they want to do and offer them a range of possible solutions for them to consider. There are very few dog problems that cannot be solved, although some – if the dog is poorly bred or has been severely traumatized cannot be solved, at least by me.

In recent years, Bud has been my most formidable challenge – he was severely abused and starving and dying from exposure when rescued – but he has become a sweet, obedient, and wonderful dog for us. I shared much of the training online with videos.

I am surprised by how much I enjoy the Dog Support idea, but I should have thought of it some time ago. It’s the right idea for now. And I don’t want to lose or waste what I’ve learned.

I’ve just spent a half hour researching dogs and the excessive human licking, and I’m sure we can deal with this problem.

At some point, I’ll link up on my blog about the page, but I want to keep the trial going until I learn more about how this should work. There are 35 million dogs in America, and there are problems with many. I am a positive reinforcement type; love is the best teacher, and for dogs, praise and food are right behind.

People often talk to their dogs when they shouldn’t and don’t talk to them when they should. I believe in common sense training; we don’t often need expensive videos, books, or TV shows.

I like the connection to start with an e-mail to me, [email protected], and then I’ll reply with Zoom or phone dates and payment details – $50 for a half-hour plus free follow-up e-mail or phone contacts. I won’t run away from anyone.

So far, the feedback is that this is a fair and reasonable price. I agree.

It’s another gorgeous day up here. After breakfast, we’ll go to the farmer’s market and buy some food for dinner, then come home and settle into work and make time to sit and watch the Turkey Vultures sail through the sky.

And I have two Dog Support meetings planned. This feels very right to me.

And, like watching Turkey Vultures, talking dogs is more fun than I might have imagined.

More later.