Sean and Haley talk about dog sports, inspired by a thoughtful friend's question of if not participating in them has ever been at all uncomfortable as a voice in the online dog community (or if we've ever been made to feel weird by others in the space).We discuss why we don't do organized dog sports with Scout (just personal preference and lifestyle!), whether or not we are "against" them (absolutely not!), some things we've observed about different dog sports communities as outsiders (many awesome merits and a few potential cons), and a few overall reflections about being on social media (like how easy it is for content to be perceived in ways differently than the author intends and how much I care about nuance). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pawsandreflect.blog/subscribe
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2025 update: I moved the Paws and Reflect blog to Substack. Some of my voiceover posts, where I read essays aloud, will now be available as podcast episodes. All our old conversations will stay live!
Original description, 2022: Haley and Sean reflect on life with our delightful (and delightfully weird) blue heeler Scout. Since adopting her in 2019, we’ve trained through fear-based dog reactivity, fostered multiple shelter dogs, dealt with idiopathic epilepsy, and navigated so many ups and downs in between. In January 2023 we hit the road for full-time van life! We hope our blunders and realizations can encourage fellow dog lovers. Fi...