Bruno's Backyard

BBY07012024.003.304 Max’s journey began nearly 12 years ago. For most of that time, he spent his days a bit spoiled, but he knew he was missing something. Last year, I began walking Max’s brother Griffin, but Max’s grandmother was under the impression Max was perfectly content not walking and exploring. One of the key elements to keeping our four-legged friends' energy and mental state calm is to give them daily structured walks. These walks not only satisfy our dogs, but also create a strong bond with their human. A few months ago, I began walking Max with Griffin and Charlie. At first, Max was hesitant to go, but a few gentle persuasions with the slip lead got Max moving. Since Max is a bit older, we make sure we walk at his pace with plenty of rest breaks. One thing Max LOVES is sitting and watching everything on the breaks. Over the last couple of months Max has gained a lot of neighborhood friends (two and four legged). He also has met new life forms and encouraged to explore the world through his nose. I look forward to many new adventures with Max! 😁

BBY05042024.002.303 May the Fourth be with you! And just like that we went from February to May.. where did the time go??? Here, Charlie gets to meet our new friend Sasha over at Cosmo's house and we get to have Griffin join. Sasha is a young Cane Corso who isn’t fond of noisy dogs. I took some time to help her understand that being near the noise will not hurt her and followed up with LOTS of affection when she didn’t move away from all the commotion. Sasha was a quick learner and soon started to play with the other dogs! My apologies to Bruno’s Backyard fans for not posting regularly. It’s been an interesting five months in my engineering career and unfortunately a little slow on the training and group play side, making it challenging for content. But I do have some get-togethers recorded and hopefully be able to post more regularly.

BBY02142024.001.302 Happy Valentine Day and Happy fourth birthday to my boy Charlie! Charlie has grown into a great assistant over the past three years since we adopted him and looking g forward to many more years together!😁 Already February… It seems like the year just started and here we are in February! We went from ringing in the new year, to freezing temperatures, and excessively wet yards but we were able to get some video of January highlights!

BBY11252023.016.300 🌈 Remembering Bruno: One Year Later 🐾❤️ It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since we said goodbye to our cherished fur friend, Bruno. Today, we honor his memory and the immeasurable joy he brought into our lives. Bruno was more than just a pet; he was family. His wagging tail, those soulful eyes, and the unconditional love he showered upon us are memories etched in our hearts forever. 🐶💕 As we reflect on the moments we shared – the long walks, the endless cuddles, and the playful antics – we're reminded of the special bond we had with our furry companion. Bruno's paw prints are forever imprinted on our hearts. To celebrate his memory, we're taking a stroll down memory lane, flipping through old photos that capture his spirit and the happiness he brought into our home. 📸✨ Bruno, we hope you're playing with Cinnamon and Bella with plenty of basking in the sun on the other side - being the sweet soul that you were and how much you continue to influence our lives. We honor what you’ve taught us by passing on the gift you gave us on how to be a pack, be calm, listen with more than our eyes and ears, and be one with nature. Thank you, Bruno, for the laughter, the love, and the beautiful memories. You are missed every day, but your spirit lives on in our hearts. 🌈🐾❤️

BBY11212023.015.299 More Bacon’s Dog Park at the Sound in Coppell. Our young friend Rowdy has his dog park debut. He and his sister tend to have a tiff while in the home setting. To determine what the issue is we give Rowdy the opportunity to express himself in a neutral atmosphere. The experience turned out to be a great time with only a few moments that needed to be interrupted. This session was followed by Mila. Charlie, during both sessions found a playmate. But Mila is still learning about the scary world around her. She did take a HUGE leap forward by voluntarily coming up to me for the first time after about our tenth session. Dog parks are a wonderful way to learn the dog/nature’s language. 😏

BBY10212023.014.298 Bacon’s Dog Park at the Sound in Coppell. Today turned out to be a great play day! Griffin was able to stay relaxed enough to run and play with the other dogs. Some of our neighborhood friends were there as well giving Cosmo and Riley ample room to play with Charlie occasionally joining them! Griffin seemed smitten with neighborhood friend Hazel with Kobe making sure not to be left out!❤️😁

BBY10042023.013.297 With this episode of Bruno’s Backyard, one of our newest pack members Griffin gets to experience our local stores. Griffin is an anxious 8-month old that I am trying to help understand how to calm himself when noises start bothering him. When I first met Griffin, I allowed him to “notice” and absorb the car and the noises they made. As we progressed with our walks, I start correcting his attention towards the noises. At this stage, he knows the noise won’t hurt him - now it’s time to teach that it doesn’t mean anything either. Griffin is a really good boy that is learning to follow me, his leader, ESPECIALLY when he’s anxious.

BBY09142023.012.296 With this episode of Bruno’s Backyard, you get to see the effects of how fear can hold us back. I have often discussed fear and how it can debilitate the one having to face it. Will we let the fear define who we are, or will we define the fear and overcome it? I’ve taught eight dogs to enjoy swimming. Our girl Cinnamon HATED at the water until she accidentally (I saw it coming since she wanted to chase the geese and I allowed it to happen) fell into a pond, panicked for a few seconds, and then realized she could swim. From that point on, she would be okay to swim to get a toy. I saw her define/understand it as an obstacle to get something squeaky. Here we have the same mind set in Charlie. Currently, he is a panicked swimmer and will not relax. Even with me holding him, he is still tense and will splash to get out. With Cosmo, while he didn’t want to go in at first, he gave in to my direction and came into the pool calmly. Face it, understand it, overcome/define, and move on!

07302022.030.279 Hackplay today with Carter and Charlie! 😁

07142022.029.278 Happy cooler (only 92!😁) Hackplay today with Carter, Hazel, and Charlie! 😁

06282022.027.276 Hackplay today! 😁

06242022.026.275 Inaugural Bruno’s Backyard play round two with some better action. MJ took full advantage of using the entire backyard! 😁

06202022.024.273 Our HackPack play on another steamy hot Monday! 😁

05232022.019.269 Our HackPack play of the day! 😁

05172022.017.267 Our wonderful HackPack play round! 😁

05142022.015.264 Another wonderful training day at Bacon Dog Park at the Sound in Irving! Our new friend Blaze helped Leia socialize off leash and provided Charlie a brief pause from “working.” Cleopatra joined the group to complete our off leash portion of training. Utilizing a dog park for training is a great way to “see” and understand how dogs talk to each other. 😁

04192022.013.262 Playtime with the HackPack part three!😁

04112022.011.260 Playtime with the HackPack!😁