Why I do what I do …

I do what I do now because of my own dog, Ziggy. I didn’t know what I was doing when I got him. I knew how to love him and give him treats such as food but I didn’t know how to truly provide for him. He started off fine; I was able to manage most of his issues such as pulling on the leash, trying to lunge at dogs while passing, him getting into most anything inside the home and trying to destroy whatever it was. All of these things I was able to manage; by keeping the food off the counter, the blinds closed, only walking him when people and dogs were not around. I was able to manage but not able to provide the life I wanted to give him and the life he wanted to live.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was when he lunged through the front glass window after the mailman. I knew I needed help; but where was I going to go? Ziggy (my boxer) was 6 years old at this point and we had gone through dozens of trainers and so called behaviorists with no avail.

That’s when I saw Cesar Milan on Television; and what drew me to him was NOT him being the leader or so called Alpha, but it was his ENERGY working with the dogs that intrigued me. The rest is history, I went down and trained with Linn Boyke (the only man to train with Cesar) to learn how to teach my own dog how to live, what is and isn’t appropriate behavior and how to really communicate with him and his energy. I have since trained with other master trainers and very much am a fan of others such as Dr. Ian Dunbar, The Monks of New Skeet, Dr. Temple Grandin and many more.

Ziggy then got a mass cell tumor on his hind quarters which metastasized to his lungs. He was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer which western medicine had no treatments for. That is when I learned about Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine. Ziggy was only given 3 months to live by the western doctors but he lived 18 months passed his diagnosis. He was on Chinese diet food therapy; acupuncture every other week, and Chinese herbs. He lived strong until the day he died. He never showed signs of weakness and we walked and hiked until the day he passed away. I came home from the park with my kids and wife and was singing my “one dog, two dog” song to my dogs when he just dropped in my arms and died. He crossed over within 15 seconds of hitting my arms then the floor. This was the best gift Ziggy ever gave me. He was there with me before I met my wife, before my human children, before I had this career and this path that it is leading. He is the reason why I do what I do. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him and thank him for that.

Thank you Ziggy; I love you so much…