Greetings! I am Shep, a Boarder Collie, which is a working breed. My humans, Warren and Carol think I should work with them on the Deck Chair Journeys blog. I do enjoy working so here we go. I am a well behaved (most of the time) companion to Warren and Carol, so I get to give my perspective on things that are pet related.
I’m considered an old man in dog years. But being 11 years of age, I think of myself as older and wiser. Of course when I joined the family I was just a pup and had my wild streak. What young guy doesn’t? I would like to acknowledge a couple of ladies who helped me in my youth. Teoti Anderson and Phyllis Beasley taught me a lot about being around people and other dogs.
These ladies teach reward based training (hey, give Warren a Krispy Kreme donut and he’ll do tricks!). None of those shock collars or choke chains for this boy. Pamper me and I’ll be your best bud. I think I did pretty good in my first class and went on to an advanced class with Phyllis.
Teoti now lives in Florida. Moved to marry one of those two legged human guys. Of course I think her true love is really her four legged friends! She has written books and articles, has webinars and a radio program you can listen to on Pet Life Radio. This is great information for people who have pets or those thinking about getting a pet. http://teotianderson.com
Ms. Phyllis runs Praise Dog Training in the Columbia, SC area. Group and private classes are available. https://www.praiseyourdogtraining.com/our-team Ms. Phyllis likes to spoil me with her liver treats. I let her, it makes her happy. I like to see humans being happy.
I love to travel with my humans and hope to post more about some of the things that make traveling with pets easy. Of course not all pets like to travel. I think my early training and Warren and Carol’s desire to travel made it seem natural to me. As you know, we dogs are known for our keen hearing. My humans are careful about using certain words that make me think something grand is about to happen. You know, words like WALK, CAR, OUTSIDE, MOUNTAINS or BEACH (that is where we have vacation rental property). And of course my favorite word – TREAT. I also respond to any of the grandchildren names, because they give me lots of attention (and treats) when we are together. They probably should have named me Traveler.
Our society as a whole is very pet oriented but there is what I refer to as “Canine Discrimination”. Many places will not allow me to accompany my humans. I get it. Not every dog is as well behaved as I am. But that means I get to miss out on some fun things.
With that in mind, Warren and Carol are researching nice resorts that allow us four legged creatures to accompany our humans. We will attempt to experience some of them first hand. I will post my experiences and suggestions in hopes that you and your companions may be able to travel together. Maybe you’re already familiar with places that are pet friendly. Please tell my humans about this. Maybe they can follow up with a visit with their favorite dog!
If you have pet related questions or comments for Shep, please send them to him in the comments section. He will give his doggy views as seen through the eyes of our Deck Chair Journeys dog reporter.