Saturday evening was to be the a making of a new friend. A client of ours who has become a friend invited us to their home for dinner.  It was to be a special one for me, as here I met a man and his wife who have inspired thousands if not millions of horse lovers all over the world, Pat and Linda Parelli. We didn’t talk horses and talked very little dogs we just got to know each other and realize we had two wonderful friends in common. Dr Ian Dunbar, who we called to annoy and entertain half way through a few glasses of wine, and Cesar Millan, who must have been calm and Assertive somewhere as we had to leave a very silly message on his phone. Ian, who did answer, of course joined in the fun and general nonsense around the dinner table, through the phone. We are hoping for all of us to meet up in the near future and get to doing what we did all evening. Tell stories, sing country and let Pat entertain us with a mean piece of guitar playing. Quite and accomplished player is Pat and Linda with a smile put me right on many of the words I forgot or got mixed up when singing some of my favorite songs. I don’t think we stopped laughing and even now four days later I chortle at the memory. Marla and Richard (another Brit) are the most wonderful hosts and friends and knew just how to surprise and please me, with not only some very good wine but also an Indian dinner. My favorite.

Friday and the phone rings. It often does, but this sounded like a good news ring and it was. Is that Martin Deeley? Yes I answer. This is John Plested; I am at the Villages near you. How about getting together. Nothing unusual you may think but John and I last saw each other back in 1967 – we think. We think!! We were Engineering apprentices back in Poole Dorset at the Poole Electricity Generating power plant. Motorcycle fiends and rockers. Nice ones! Wow, would I like to get together. Too right I would and so Sunday evening was one of ‘Do you remember” or “I can remember” and all the old stories, old names and memories of boyhood and learning together came out. The time we spent with a group of apprentices camping on a very wet night and getting flooded out in tents we had pitched at the bottom of a hill. Then spending the rest of the night in a kind and sympathetic famers barn where rats smiled into our flashlight beams, and sleep came with a lot of difficulty. The stories of night shift at the Power Station when I cooked curry and got dragged before the boss the next morning because the whole office block smelled like an Indian Restaurant.  Memories of yesterday as though they were today. Friends of then and where they are now, or sadly no longer with us. A great afternoon and evening of days gone by and a friendship renewed.

Interesting that with both these friends, a common denominator is Indian food. Hadn’t thought about it until writing these few words. These are days that last in my mind. Days of joy where we share our lives, loves and innermost pleasures with true friends. A weekend I will always remember and I am sure talk about with these and other friends many times in the future. Memories, ah sweet memories.

What a great three days my wife Pat and I have had last week with our good friend Wendy Volhard. Wendy decided she would like to learn a few things from us about gun dog training and other bits of training stuff she felt she needed. Well, to be honest, I am not sure who learned more, Wendy or us. She is a wealth of information and great company. We talked dogs and dogs and dogs. We worked and trained dogs that were in for Board and train as well as my own dogs in hunting work. Wendy has Labradors now, as well as dachshunds and she is getting a hankering to train in gundog skills. Well she has competed at the highest level is many other dog sports so why not go out and do the business in hunting dog work. We had fun.

As we sat enjoyed dinners and time together we talked nutrition, breeding and husbandry. There is so much that we can earn and use to help our dogs and owners. Wendy has developed a great food that is mixed with beef mince to give the perfect diet for dogs. In addition she has an additive/supplement, which you put with kibble to give that little extra needed vitality and health to dogs that are basically kibble fed. This supplement called Endurance I have used for my dogs for a while and really find it does make a difference.  I have also used the mixer with beef and found it very easy to feed. Dogs of course love it and the results have been very noticeable. Natural minced beef with Wendi’s mixer provides the perfect diet. Young pups, that no matter what you try, do not seem to be quite right physically have shown dramatic improvement on it. I once had a pup that was very thin on coat and somehow did not look as good as my pups usually do. After a test, which showed Thyroid on the low side but within the normal levels, Wendy advised me to feed with her diet plus add liver and Endurance. Within a month we had a different dog, both in coat and mind set. Wendy has taken Landseer Newfies to over 13 years of age on her diet even when diagnosed with liver problems at an early age. Hey, makes me want to go on the diet!!

When it comes to nutrition and developing a healthy mind and body in your dog this lady is the best. We can train exercise and love but without a healthy mind and body we are limited. I would say when love is just not enough to help your dog, talk to Wendy. She is unselfish with her time and advice and what she says pays off. A healthy mind and body provides the framework upon which we can build.

If like me you want the best for your go read some of the information Wendy has to offer at http://www.volharddognutrition.com/

Christmas holds so many memories and with a granddaughter, now beginning to hold many more. A granddaughter who came about because of the love for a dog. Her father, my son in law Bill, was one of my first clients in Florida. He became a best friend and even more, a wonderful husband to my daughter, and father to my granddaughter. And, all because of the love and caring for a dog called Kate.  It was Kate who brought us together and made us a family. Dogs are not just a part of my life they have been and formed my life.  How could I say to anyone; don’t get a dog at this time.

I have a Radio interview Saturday- tomorrow- with my good friend Jeff Gellerman- and we will probably talk about Christmas puppies. Everyone says don’t do it. I say, with a smile,  please do because from March until July my business as a dog trainer goes upwards. Sounds cynical but it is true and I admire those who unashamedly ask for advice because they want to keep this new family member for life.  A dog for Christmas can be the start of a wonderful relationship with children and   adults of all ages. The secret to success is always doing it correctly. I got my first dog at eleven and he saved my life basically. My parents had moved the length of the country, I had no friends in the new town and I was fairly down in the dumps. Dad took me to a house where there were puppies. Jacairns they would call them these days. In my day they were mixes, mongrels – a Jack Russell crossed with a Cairn.  He asked me which I would like and as I sat on the ground with them – one chose me. I called him Kim and he lived and loved with me for 8, much too short, years. Apart from school time we were inspirable. My dad’s words as we took him home were “He is your dog and your responsibility. He will be what you make him and will give you more than you give him if you make him the friend he wants to be and can be.” He was right. I am today what Kim taught me to be.

A Christmas dog is not a failure because he is a Christmas dog; he is a failure when we do not do the right things for and with him. If you go to a shelter, make sure you get help selecting the right pup/dog for you. Do not simply depend on the shelter staff – get the assistance of someone who knows dogs and can find one that fits your lifestyle. If you go for a puppy from a breeder, it is exactly the same. Get help selecting the right breed and the right breeder with the right lines for you. It’s not luck or magic getting a dog of a lifetime – it is common sense and good advice plus help with the initial upbringing. Get that puppy right in his habits, ways and behavior in the first six months and in most instances he will be right for a lifetime giving your family the wonderful ‘ride’ through the dog years a great dog provides. Dogs teach us so much. But it all starts with us finding the right dog and teaching them. Lovely letter from one of my clients in Canada this Christmas. He wrote “You know that this Spring it will be ten years since you’ve blessed my life with Green Mountain’s Bird Buster. He has truly been an honest and amazing dog and a wonderful companion.” I blessed his life – but Buster made the blessing happen.

Dogs do bless our lives and bring us far more than ever we give them. If you get a dog for Christmas, don’t be too shy to ask for help. Get to know your dog and the little issues that he may have. Don’t allow people to overpower or create problems. As much as you may protect people from your dog’s naughtiness protect your dog from people’s naughtiness.

May you be blessed with the love of a dog at least one time in your life and your life will be blessed forever.

Have a wonderful Christmas – take care of your best friends this holiday and enjoy sharing with them the wonder of Christmas and the love of Dog.

Some guys from Maine dressed their truck up with a guy spread eagle on the roof of the truck.
The driver and passenger put on Moose Heads.
Down the Maine Toll interstate they went causing about 16 accidents.
They went to jail. Maine cops have no sense of humor.

“Speaking of jobs well done, I am also thankful for two very dear friends of mine, Cheri Lucas and Martin Deeley, both frequent contributors to CesarsWay.com. Cheri mentored with me many years ago. Today, her nonprofit rescue, Second Chance at Love Humane Society, is working hard to create balanced dogs with loving homes. Martin’s International Association of Canine Professionals was a tremendous help at this year’s National Pack Walk Event. – Cesar Millan”

I give thanks for all the friends that have entered my life and in most instances the wonderful dogs that have brought them to me. Cesar has made a big impact on me and the dog world, long may he continue to do so. His friendship is one I will always treasure. He is indeed a Dear Friend.

Martin and Cesar in LA with Junior

Too often these days we are not giving enough attention to temperament. At one time a dog with a tendency to bite was not bred from unless that was its intended job. And even then the Protection Breeds as such were bred to be balanced so they could be trained and controlled. Unless working dogs are  trained for work and worked in some way if only retrieving, it can be very difficult to assess temperament. Dogs like to work even if only in play.  Training to work also means that they do become better dogs as you are using their inherent energies. The dog feels more complete doing what he was born to do – with a working partner, his owner.