Operation HEEL

04/24/2026

A mindful minute with our flock of chickens—enjoy!

04/21/2026

A mindful minute in the clouds ♥️

04/18/2026

04/17/2026

Thank you for your patience as we continue to clean up from the storms!

I’ve got lots of help picking up sticks 😆

04/15/2026

Mother Nature ♥️

04/14/2026

Rough night for everyone!

Our resident weatherman, Louie (our dog), went to the basement at 7:30pm last night so I knew weather was going to be wild!

Our horses tucked themselves into their shelters early, too.

Keeping everyone in our thoughts today!

04/13/2026

Monkeys, elephants, and even pets sometimes act in ways that could be interpreted as seeking privacy, Ross Andersen reports. Do humans ever owe it to animals to look away? https://theatln.tc/jr7nVJji

Earlier this year, Andersen took his dog out to relieve himself at night—but when they made eye contact, it gave Andersen an uneasy feeling. “I wonder if my sleepy-eyed stare strikes him as intrusive,” he writes.

Dogs and other pets don’t get to decide the amount of distance that exists between them and their human owners. They are expected to return right away when called. Rarely are they allowed to refuse physical attention. “We do all of these things because we love them, but this love is one that we thoroughly control,” Andersen continues. “To them, at times, it may feel like something else.” Read more about what Andersen learned about animal privacy at the link.

🎨: The Atlantic. Source: Getty.

04/08/2026

They’re back ♥️

A mindful minute from our ground dwellers sharing this beautiful Earth with us —enjoy!

04/03/2026

It’s critical to support the horse and every animal working in healing spaces ♥️

Looking forward to watching this film with my family!

04/02/2026

20 minutes 3 times per week + green space = health & wellness for human & dog ♥️

Symptoms of anxiety (most disorders and diseases) is the body’s way of coping (to maintain homeostasis), often signaling a deeper, underlying condition or challenge.

This is why obedience training does not work for dogs or humans with an underlying condition, it may only cause more miscommunication which leads to more stress (internal and external).

To alleviate symptoms of anxiety (or depression, etc) for the dog and human, the work must begin with the dog and the human on a deeper level.

“The rise in anxiety among American humans has been exhaustively documented,” Rose Horowitch wrote in 2024. “With much less fanfare, we also seem to have entered the age of the anxious canine.”⁠ https://theatln.tc/7OklVWaz
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Many of America’s 85 veterinary behaviorists are booked months in advance. Several whom Horowitch spoke with said that the number of people seeking pet mental-health care has exploded in the past few years. But there is no consensus as to why. One theory is that dogs today are more anxious. More Americans are choosing to adopt pets, which saves lives but can leave traumatized pets with inexperienced owners. We’ve also altered the way pets live in ways that may make them anxious or aggressive toward people and other dogs. But it could also be that anxious adults are projecting their own issues onto their furry companions. What people classify as a behavioral issue reflects human expectations as much as a dog’s nature, according to a bioethicist. ⁠
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“So is the dog-anxiety crisis real, or is it a product of owners’ anxiety-riddled psyches? Dogs can’t tell us how they’re feeling, so we’ll probably never know,” Horowitch continues. “But both explanations are depressing. Either humans are stressing dogs out so much that they truly need prescription meds, or owners are putting their dogs on unnecessary psychoactive drugs to address annoying but normal dog habits. It might be time, in other words, to reevaluate the way we approach dog ownership. ⁠
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“Many Americans don’t have the time, energy, or green space their pets need to thrive,” Horowitch continues. “If the choice is to medicate our dogs or to make them, and ourselves, miserable, pet ownership starts to seem ethically murky.”⁠
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🎨: Paul Spella / The Atlantic. Source: Getty.

04/01/2026

Happy (belated) 12th birthday Ted!

Every day with you is a gift and I’m forever grateful you helped guide me in supporting other rescue dogs find their purpose and natural talents either as a family dog or a partner in animal-assisted therapy.

You are so loved ♥️

03/29/2026

A friendly reminder to take a mindful minute for your health and wellness-enjoy!