5 Things Big Dog Tails Will Help You With

When I think about my journey in dog ownership, I often chuckle to myself. I remember bringing my Ezra home and thinking that the next couple months of housetraining would be hard, but then it’ll be fine. I mean, it’s only a dog. You aren’t molding a tiny human to grow one day into a smart, kind, contributing member of society. How hard can it be?

But the reality is, raising Ezra was much more challenging than I ever expected. It felt like there was a new phase every other week – Ezra’s UTI, Ezra going into his crate specifically to go to the bathroom, Ezra eating gouges into the drywall in the house. The list goes on. Add on top of that a demanding job and being a single, and it sometimes felt impossible.

But it’s not impossible. And it was worth every moment.

I firmly believe that Ezra was the best thing that happened to me, and I don’t think I’m unique. I think having a dog in your life is worth it too.

This post will document the five things we hope to help our readers with on their dog ownership journey.

1. Help You Overcome the Puppy Blues

If you have the puppy blues, you are not alone. I think all dog owners have been there at some point. The puppy blues is when the honeymoon period of bringing home a new puppy wears off. You realize a puppy is a lot of work with slow behavioral improvement.

This can happen to brand new and experienced dog owners alike. In fact, it happens more regularly to seasoned dog owners, because they may have just lost an older, more mature, and well-behaved dog. They forgot what surviving puppyhood is all about.

At its worst, Puppy Blues will make you want to rehome your pup. But don’t do that! Read our journey and learn how we solved puppy problems. You’ll get over it just like we did.

2. Overcome obstacles in Raising a Socialized and Behaved dog

Let’s face it – dogs are expensive. Just adopting or buying from a breeder alone is costly. Then add in the vet bills, the food bills, toys, dog training…your dog is basically a dependent you can’t get a tax credit for.

When people have to budget, they usually cut dog training first. It’s not necessary to pay for it when you can just YouTube it, right? I tried just that, and let me tell you – the skills we needed to learn weren’t accessible on YouTube. Had we not gone to dog training, Ezra would still be a rambunctious puppy. If he was still a rambunctious puppy, I would not be able to travel or socialize nearly as much as I do with him. I would have a far shallower bond with Ezra.

We want you to feel confident going anywhere and everywhere with your dog without feeling burdened by cost, socialization, or behavior. To do this, we will provide (free) obedience lessons, education on dog breeds and their natural social tendencies, and tips on budgeting best practices.

3. Give Advice on How to Travel with a Large Dog

Traveling with a dog is generally hard. Dogs are creatures of habit – they like a routine and sometimes it’s hard to shake them of it or introduce them to a new place. With large dogs, you have all those same issues with additional travel challenges due to their size.

Not only do they take up more space, but you need to pack either more or larger sized items that also take up more space. For example, if your dog sleeps on an elevated dog bed, that will take up more space for a larger bed than a smaller bed. There are also some hotels or Airbnb listings don’t accommodate dogs greater than a specific size.

Ezra and I love to road trip. We started road tripping in a little Honda Fit hatchback, traveling from NY to Cape Cod to Acadia National Park. We have since upgraded to a Subaru Forester, but have plans to travel all over the USA and Canada. We will share our travel recommendations and how to efficiently pack for a road trip with your furry bud.

4. Discuss How Dogs Improve and Enrich Our Lives

While they are a lot of work, dogs have been man’s best friend for eons for a reason. They help provide structure to our lives. They force us to exercise. Caring for them improves our mental state. I know part of the reason I got Ezra was because I felt he would help pull me away from my day job at a reasonable hour and give me work life balance. Even if you don’t own a dog, petting a dog helps release stress and can be therapeutic.

Ezra and I are excited to explore that more as we attempt to gain our Therapy Dog certification. Follow our journey to learn more about how dogs improve our lives.

5. Build a Community of Dog Owners and Lovers

In my life, I have owned a toy breed Yorkshire Terrier, a small breed Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and now a large breed Bernese Mountain Dog. I am not an expert on dogs or any specific dog breeds. I have learned a lot though, and it’s been through trying new things and listening to other dog owners’ experiences and advice.

We would love to continue learning alongside you.

Conclusion

My goal is to document everything I learn as Ezra’s dog owner to share with all of you so we can have an improved and enriched life with our dogs. So that they can be well-socialized and well-behaved throughout daily life and travel adventures. So we can remove the financial burdens of raising a dog. And finally, so we can get through the tough stuff like puppyhood and illness together.

I hope you join our community and share your tips, tricks, and experiences with us too!