Vir-Chew: Dog Bless You!

This book is about how the Love I shared with these three dogs (Kayla, Buffy, and Spike) taught me how to cope with the pain of death and Love life again. My hope for this book is that it will help some people learn to Love their lives a little more too. When I look at the world around me, I often get the feeling most people don't Love their lives. Maybe you don't Love yours. I didn't always Love mine.

"This book is about how the Love I shared with . . . three dogs taught me how to cope with the pain of death and Love life again. My hope for this book is that it will help some people learn to Love their lives a little more too." "So you may be wondering, is this book about dog training, science, Christianity, philosophy, or religion? It's about all those things, and how those things intersect in surprising and hopeful ways. This book is about living a good, virtuous, fulfilling life, and making the world a better, happier place for everyone. We can learn how to do that by looking at science, our history, our culture, and most importantly, at our own lives." Dog trainer Dan Josselyn-Creighton reflects on his years of training, working with, and Loving dogs, and what these experiences have taught him about living a virtuous and happy life.

Dan Josselyn-Creighton is also the author of "Taco 'bout Training Tuesdays!" and has always had a passion for dogs, tacos, and talking about himself in the third person. Dan became a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA-CTP) in 2014 after spending several years as a dog groomer and doggie daycare attendant. Most dogs don't love being groomed, and many fear it, which is why he wanted to learn more about training and behavior so he could help make life easier for the dogs he worked with. Dan was also eager to help other groomers and dog owners teach their dogs to like being groomed instead of fearing it, so he also became Low Stress Certified through Dr. Sophia Yin's Cattle Dog Press, and more recently has been certified as a Fear Free trainer, groomer, and speaker. Dan's biggest heroes in the world of dog training are the doctors and scientists who have helped popularize modern, science-based dog training methods, like Dr Sophia Yin, Ian Dunbar, Patricia McConnell, Karen Overall, Marty Becker, and trainers specializing in behavior modification like Michael Shikashio and Grisha Stewart. His biggest hero, after his parents, is probably Mr. Rogers, because he thinks every person and every dog is special, just the way they are. Dan also appreciates the benefits of teaching dogs fun tricks and games as a way of building up a dog's self-confidence, bonding with them, and improving their emotional well-being. Dan has taken classes on dog sports with Fenzi Dog Sports Academy and tricks with Kyra Sundance. He first started eating tacos in his birth state of Massachusetts as a child and developed a love for tacos after his older sister Ellen started working in a Mexican restaurant. The first two things Dan learned to cook as a teenager were tacos and Kraft Dinner, or "mac and cheese" as we called it in Massachusetts. Dan eventually learned to cook more things after discovering that tacos, Kraft Dinner, and delivery pizza aren't actually the healthiest things in the world to eat, but still eats tacos every week on Taco Tuesday, and on Wednesday. Dan firmly believes that while tacos should be eaten every Taco Tuesday, it's OK to eat tacos on other days too. Any day that begins with a "T" is appropriate for tacos, this includes Tuesday, Thursday, Today, and Tomorrow. Today Dan is the owner of Golden Rule Dog Training and teaches puppy socialization at Zendog on Church Street, virtual group classes and webinars with EduCanine, and especially loves giving private lessons to dog lovers in and around his neighborhood, Toronto's Church-Wellesley Village. He also volunteers some of his time with two dog rescue organizations, Coveted Canines Rescue (CCR) and Boston Terrier Rescue Canada (BTRC). CCR and BTRC are both volunteer-run nonprofits that save lives by helping dogs that need homes and homes that need dogs become families. Please take some time to see if there's any way you can support either or both of these wonderful organizations.