Paws and Reflect Haley, Sean, and Scout of Paws and Reflect

Sean and I recorded this on December 14th, three days after my eye surgery. Now I'm finally able to look at screens here and there to share it!

Mostly a (somewhat silly) story of trying to make my drops suck less... but as usual the experience did make me think of some real dog connections too.

'Tis the season for holiday family time! We talk about how it can be (counterintuitively) harder to advocate for our dogs around loved ones than strangers, that it's okay to focus on humans-only activities sometimes, what our visits have looked like lately, and my very best advice for anyone who gets overwhelmed at social gatherings 🚐😉

Related links:


How We Handle Traveling to See Family With Our Dog — older blog post about our logistics before we lived in a van
Why I’m Risk Averse With Family Dog-Dog Interactions — recent reflections on separating Scout from my parents' pets
Why I Love to “Leave The Dog Behind” — sometimes it's best for everyone!
Leaving Our Dog Alone in Our Van: Safety & Temperature Control — how we keep Scout safe if we do stuff without her

Sean and I sit down to talk about the ways I've struggled with ego, self-righteousness, and external opinions in life with Scout, including where I think the pressure came from initially. I feel more confident about our life together today than ever before — but wow, has it been a journey to get here.

Some blog posts that address similar topics:


What Level of Obedience is "Good Enough" For My Dog?
Is My Dog My Mirror? Yes and No
Worst Moments in My Dog Ownership
Working Through My Biggest Dog Ownership Flaw
Why Does Your Dog Need To Do… Well, Anything?

Our "What's Right for YOU" Instagram guide compiles related posts, too.

Probably one of our least organized episodes to date (yes, that says something haha...) BUT Sean and I finally recorded another podcast!

We reflect on our recent visit to New York City with Scout. Urban dogs & their people face so many challenges every day — it made me think about how adaptable our companions can be, how much work goes into taking good care of a canine in a city, how our environments affect our training goals & choices, and how different our life with Scout might have looked if we lived in a place like that full time.

Related links:


I summed some of these high level thoughts up in a blog post called "An Ode to Big City Dogs"
This article shares overall reflections on navigating NYC with our van
My friend Karoline (Dog Mom Mentality) did a podcast series not too long ago interviewing dog owners who live in a range of different environments — she & her guests provide some much more organized insights!

Haley and Sean sit down to talk about fulfillment, a topic inspired by a very kind listener in a podcast review. We discuss what biological fulfillment means to us, what it does for us & Scout, how we try to find activities that fulfill our cattle dog, and a bit on how we conceptualize our human fulfillment too.

Related blog links:


Fulfillment checklist article
Reasons We Play "Just" to Play
Our Play blog category
Q&A From New Cattle Dog Owner on Fulfillment

Sean and Haley sit down to record a podcast for the first time in a while after several weeks of transition. We're officially living full time in our converted van, Hermes! We talk about our first impressions of van life (we absolutely love it so far); how the small space has changed (and not changed) certain parts of our lives; Scout's fulfillment, confidence, and overall routine being on the road; what it's like to leave her alone in the van when we go somewhere that isn't dog-friendly; and a final summary "pros and cons" list.

More about our van life plans and experience so far:


The Van Life category of our blog
Van Dog Logistics Instagram guide