Dog trains man

Monday, December 14, 2015

Kenzo's Final Gift

I felt all the blood leave my face and could just hold on to the edge of the examination table. The vet immediately noticed. She grabbed my arm while the vet technician made an attempt to support my back.
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Thursday, July 23, 2015

Laughter Therapy

"OMG! This is so much fun!" I shout at the top of my lungs.

"Hey Kenz! We are getting wet big guy! Woohoo!" and I burst out in laughter.
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Monday, July 20, 2015

The Bumpy Road To The Beach

We drive through the town's main street with the windows half open. It is just a 5 minute ride to the beach and the shortest road is through the small town of "Henne strand". Actually, the town is not a lot more than that single main street.
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Thursday, July 9, 2015

My Dogs Are My Gurus


"They changed your life" my old friend said the other day. With "they" he meant the dogs. Kenzo, Viva, and Tilde.

He called me up to hear how I was doing. I hadn't spoken with him for a decade. I can imagine his surprise to find me on the other end of the phone, not doing business or developing a new tech gadget or application, storming through board-rooms with new ideas. Instead, he found me in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, self-employed, which allowed me to work from home, and I talked about the dogs a lot.
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Tuesday, July 7, 2015

What Nature Has To Offer

The underwater treadmill has been switched for the North Sea's surf. Muscle tone exercises on a wobble board are exchanged by slowly walking through sand on the beach and the dunes. Cavaletti's are done on the heath fields.

We are doing Kenzo's physical therapy with what nature has to offer.
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Sunday, July 5, 2015

Waiting on a Friend

Was it them? Kenzo sat down in the shallow sea water, as if he was in thrilled anticipation of the imminent reunion with his friend. His gaze was locked at something on the horizon. He was waiting on a friend, but I knew he would never come.
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Saturday, June 27, 2015

High-Five

Just a note from every day life this time, and a photo I wanted to share.

I shot this photo last week and can't help myself. I keep coming back to look at it.

After last week's encounter with the vet, Kenzo's smile and high-five speak volumes I like to think.

There is not much I can add in words, which Kenzo is not already telling in that photo.
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Thursday, June 18, 2015

Dogs Don't Lie

"You might need to consider if you want to offer him this life. You might want to consider euthanasia."

Silence.

"We need to discuss this next time we meet.", the vet said.
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Sunday, June 14, 2015

A Must Have on a Tough Subject

I am glad I read this book.

I am even more glad to have it, waiting on my book shelf. Ready to help me when that monster called grief, will show its ugly face again.

I read Roxanne Hawn's "Heart Dog: Surviving the Loss of Your Canine Soul Mate" with two questions in mind, was Viva my heart dog? am I wallowing? I got my answers, but more importantly, I also found things I could have done differently that would have helped me coping with the grief. Something I never expected would happen.

Grief is immensely personal, and I remember how I also wanted to own it. Find my way. Not listen to others. Being stubborn about that nobody could help me, and how I persisted on drinking the cup empty alone.
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Thursday, June 11, 2015

My Hero

There we went, up into the spotlight. Me with Tilde, Dina with Emil, and Louise with Ronja. Three Hovawarts rescued from the puppy mill.

The host started talking, but I didn't hear what he was saying, as I tried to keep my focus on Tilde. Tilde was noticing one of the cameras was moving towards her and she sounded the infamous Hovawart alarm with a bark. The audience present in the studio laughed. More cameras zoomed in on Tilde.
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Sunday, June 7, 2015

Finding Mr. Right

I was puzzled. We had just passed a group of road workers, and Tilde had done everything in her power to greet them. She just didn't let me pass by, pulling the leash, wiggling her body with her tail slashing from left to right. The men noticed, and one approached to reach out his arm for Tilde to sniff. Tilde made a slight hesitation, which I thought was odd considering all the trouble she went through to get closer, but then she went in to earn her cuddle.

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Saturday, June 6, 2015

We Are Getting Naked With Edie

It's time to get naked. Edie Jarolim is a writer who inspires me. Give me any book, article or blog post. If she wrote it, I want to read it.
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Monday, May 25, 2015

Tilde's Moment

It is just a moment. Tilde being Tilde. Tilde being silly Tilde.

Or is there more to it?

I want to get to know my dogs. I want to understand them as good as possible. Who are they? What defines their character. What makes Tilde, Tilde?
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Friday, May 22, 2015

The Ego of a Hovawart Expert

When I was invited as a Hovawart expert to speak for a group of new Hovawart owners a while ago - it was before Tilde - I was asked the question what could be done to stop certain bad behaviors, like jumping up and mouthing.
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Sunday, May 17, 2015

We Have A Winner! Grisha Stewart's Book About BAT

And the Winner of Grisha Stewart's book about BAT is ....

Christy Johnson!

Congratulations! I hope you enjoy reading the book and putting BAT into practice.
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Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Judged Guilty, Severe Neglect of 55 Hovawarts and Goldens

The Hovawart puppy miller Torben Thorsøe was judged guilty of severe animal neglect according to the Danish Animal Welfare and Protection Act by the Danish district court in Næstved today.

He was sentenced to pay a fine of 25,000 danish kroner (3,700 USD / 3,300 Euro), a conditioned jail sentence of twenty days, and lost the right to breed commercialy with animals for the next 5 years.
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Thursday, May 7, 2015

Survey Results

Thank you so much for participating in our survey. It was thrilling to touch base with our readers and listen to your likes and dislikes.

We also received great input in the comments for new subjects to write about, which will keep us busy for a while to come.
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Sunday, May 3, 2015

The Wolf and The Hovawart, Old Foes Or a New Beginning?

Wolf in Ovstrup Hede, Denmark. Photo: Carl Skovbjerg Johnsen
The wolf has returned to Denmark. I am delighted, thrilled and excited all at once. Not only for the wolf, but also for what could follow in its path. What may lie ahead is a new understanding. A new definition of the Danish relationship not only with nature and wolfs, but also between the Danes and dogs in general.

Let me explain. Due warning though, this will be a long essay.
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Saturday, May 2, 2015

Kenzo the Hovawart Survey

I would really appreciate your feedback on this one.

I put together a short survey about what you like to read on the Kenzo the Hovawart blog and what possible suggestions you might have for improvement.

It would mean the world to me if you could help me out, moving forward with the blog.
Thank you in advance!
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Friday, May 1, 2015

Jumping The Fence

Tilde jumps a lot. Mainly because it is practical. It is about getting from A to B in the quickest way possible. She is not an avid jumper, and doesn't seem to jump for the pleasure of it. When she is on full speed, it is an impressive sight though.
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Thursday, April 23, 2015

Giveaway: Grisha Stewart's Book About BAT

This being our second giveaway, I gave it some thought, what kind of products I actually liked to give away, and I decided to continue down the path of products we have used ourselves and which really helped us in one way or the other - like the FITPAWS Balance Disc in our first giveaway that helped Kenzo so much in his injury therapy.

This time, we are therefore giving away a book that made a huge difference for us:

Behavior Adjustment Training, by Grisha Stewart, M.A., CPDT-KA

... for Free!
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