Rachel Friedman

Socialization for your pup or dog is key to raising a healthy, stable animal. Socialization is exposure to SIGHTS, SOUNDS, SCENTS AND SURFACES paired with positive experience. Socialization is to people of all ages, other dogs (both on and the especially raucous off leash type of socializing), other animals and different places at different times of the day and throughout the year.

Bruin is winding down his first (and possibly only) Three Day Board and Train. With respect to developing better leash manners, off leash (supervised) reliability out in the planet and within the home, better manners with his own kind and people, hats off to Bean. My 9 1/2 year old English Springer Spaniel is an extraordinary teacher. While I sometimes I consider his punishment  dose a bit more emphatic than necessary, I concede that he is usually right.

Har-Vest: 3-in-1 Backpack for Dogs was born out of inspiration and need and gave birth to my inventive entrepreneurial spirit within the dog world. It was simple. Merge a no-pull harness with a functional, durable and attractive vest/backpack. Minimize the amount of equipment a developing puppy would need to endure and yet enhance training, socialization and control using positive methods. Beyond original conception, Har-Vest also had the added benefit of calming the unruly dog and increasing confidence in the overwhelmed dog. And suddenly, here we are, hundreds if not thousands of dogs later on 12/12/12. And I realize it was 12 years ago this month that the inspiration began. And, to honor the beloved 12 days of Christmas, not to mention we're in the middling stage of Chanukah, with numerology and light all around, I thought it a great day to highlight some of Har-Vest's benefits and features.

Calming Signals is a term coined by Turid Rugaas, a Norwegian ethologist and dog enthusiast. Her obvious love and long term devotion to observing dogs with their own kind has led to her ground breaking work in articulating these signals into written language (Norwegian, English and no doubt dozens of other written languages -- ironically, dogs speak the same language regardless of country of origin or the spoken language of their people).