When we had to put Tate down, we knew it was coming, but it still seemed sudden and too soon. No amount of time would have been sufficient to say goodbye. As I was helping everyone navigate their feelings on losing such a dear pet I was struck with my own unexpected emotions. I eventually had to take a moment and reflect on how Tate had made such an impact on my life. This is our story: I never grew up with a dog, and honestly I normally avoided them, but did one day want my

I am going to start with a disclaimer. This post is going to be all over the place. I try not to be a controversial person, and getting ideas out of my mind and across to others can often be a challenge. This post might touch on things that can be controversial but I am not here to convince anyone of anything. The manner of this is more in the style that if my kids and grandkids, and even great grandkids ever get ahold of this someday, it will explain to them why Kristin and

When Kristin and I got married one of the first things we did was start searching for a dog. For both of us growing up, a dog really wasn’t in the equation and it was something we had both been dreaming of for a long time. It is not a secret that since about the age of 15 my favorite hobby is waterfowl hunting. For many years I had always wanted a duck dog. Now when you first get married the budget for things like this are not huge, but I was determined to find a dog that had