I am often asked why “My Hart Dog?”. Well yes, I guess my logo is a play on words, and yet it is so much more.
“My Hart Dog” was born from my emotional journey with a very special dog. It is about grief and admitting that sometimes you just have to accept the dog in front of you and not the one you planned, longed and hoped for. When we allow ourselves to do that, let go a little, and accept our imperfect perfect dogs then the bond we have becomes incredibly special.
"When it came to researching our new puppy, we did everything right."
The breeder ticked all my boxes, and then some. The puppies were gorgeous and very well cared for. Lots of enrichment and appropriate stimulation. There were maybe a couple of things, but I brushed them off. As it happened, we didn’t end up with the puppy we chose, another was substituted at the last minute. I thought nothing of it. Maybe if I had listened to my niggles, it might have been different, but then I wouldn’t have ended up with Otter, My Hart Dog.
Otter is beautiful. Sensitive, curious and almost telepathic in her ability to understand what I am asking of her. She is delicate, funny, and I swear she has a sense of humour! Her gun doggery abilities are a dream, working with her is uplifting and feels good for the soul, for both of us. But It took me a long time to see this. All I could think about in the early days was the difficult journey ahead. Her deep mistrust of people leading to extreme fearful reactivity. She wasn’t perfect, she was emotionally exhausting. I struggled to accept what I saw as a lifetime of keeping her safe. We already had one reactive dog, now two? We felt trapped and at times I admit I felt a little angry. It wasn’t fair!
It is important to recognise these emotions are normal. It can feel like grieving, I mean, why do people have dogs? Certainly not to feel embarrassed when they are barking and lunging at people. Certainly not when you need to walk your dog, and end up traipsing the streets at some ungodly hour simply to avoid the possibility of meeting other dogs or people. Certainly not when it becomes difficult to have friends and family visit, because even if they say they love dogs, and most people do, they just don’t understand them.
We have come a long way, our progress has been a bit up and down, and boy is she full of surprises, but I now feel incredibly lucky, blessed in fact to have Otter in our lives. It is these special dogs that teach us the most, we just need to stand back, watch, listen and learn.
So, what is "My Hart Dog" now? Well, it’s still about my journey with Otter, but it’s also about helping others to work holistically towards a better life with their dog.
Be kind to yourself, and be more dog!
