What to expect here

Tim Miller and baby Juno

First, I'm not a writer. I work with a ton of great writers and editors. They'll likely cringe when they read what I write. And I know a lot of great dog bloggers. Really really smart people. And they'll probably cringe too. I'm okay with that. My goal isn't to win prizes as a writer - I plan to write to the average pet owner.

Second, there's SO MUCH that's already been written. I'm not going to attempt to re-write everything that's already out there. So, you can expect that I'll frequently point you to other great blog posts.

Third, I love the nerdy technical stuff about dog training. I can talk all day about protocols, and the quadrants of animal learning, which two quadrants I use, and why, and the reasons to choose operant conditioning for one behavior issue and classical conditioning for another. I'll keep taking courses and reading books which further my knowledge about these things. I'll continue to debate these issues in Facebook groups for other dog training geeks. And yes, sometimes, I'll write about nerdy dog training topics here. As a matter of fact, I'll be publishing one of those next week.

But mostly, I'm going to write for dog owners who want to have a happy, well behaved dog in their family. I'll focus on getting your puppy off to a good start in the first weeks/months after they come home with you. I'll offer advice about how to pick a puppy and the pros and cons of the different places you can get it. I'll talk about training on the basic things most puppy families struggle with. I'll address specific issues that adult dogs - and senior dogs - are faced with, too.

I'm here to help families who have (or who want to have) dogs.

If that's you, keep checking back here.

--Tim