Hi all! We hope you are happy and healthy out there!

You might have noticed that once a week I’ve been writing an additional article on Substack—which then gets sent to your email if you’re subscribed. It’s something I’ve enjoyed doing as I like to write - but I don’t want it be annoying for anyone!

Please give Kris and me some feedback if you find you’re getting too many notifications. We can adjust things or just have the second article stay on Substack.

This week we wrote about the seven dogs that were supposedly dognapped, then escaped, and were led home by a Corgi. My initial research came from fairly reputable sources—large online newspapers that included actual quotes—so the first article was based on that. Then other news sites dug a little deeper and found that the whole story was wrong. The video of the dogs being led by the Corgi was real, but they weren’t dognapped—they were just all following a dog in heat. Sigh. So I got that one wrong.

Here is the first article.

Here is the second.

Anyway, I learned a valuable lesson: if I don’t have access to interview people directly (like in China), wait a few more days for the folks who do. As one news outlet published it—and because it was a cute and heartwarming story—it spread like wildfire (and still is being spread right now!). Super clickbaity. In the end though, all the dogs were okay.

The Fifth Winter

Yep, for most of this week it has snowed, been windy, and been cold. Kris is ready to punch winter in the face, but as I keep reminding her, winter isn’t over until June. It can snow and be freezing whenever it wants until then.

I got a shoe chucked at my head and realized (again) that she doesn’t want to be corrected—she wants her feelings heard—and I made that mistake as a husband.

So after ducking another shoe and getting hit by a third, I stopped trying to explain winter and left it at that.

Winter Warms Up by Friday

Both Kris and I had a LONG teaching week—busy days without a moment to rest until we got home. Getting the animals out for walks in nature a couple of times really helped, and by Friday the cold wind had died down.

I’ll keep saying it—there is something incredibly peaceful and stress-relieving about watching the animals just frolic and have fun in the snow and down by the creek. We’ve been stopping by Norbert’s dam and letting the pets just be themselves.

Beaker digs like her life depends on it. Bernoulli has decided he’s part beaver and is now chewing trees into his own sticks. Bunsen finds a nice patch of snow, lies down, and just becomes one with winter. Seeing his happy face—relaxed with his family, looking around the forest and taking in all the smells—always makes my heart full. Brix comes out of his backpack and walks along a fallen log that doesn’t have much snow on it.

Soon this area will be fully melted, and I can’t wait for Bernoulli and Beaker to swim in the pond that forms behind the dam. Who knows—maybe Brix will get his feet wet and join Bunsen at the creek shore!

A New Cat Tree

Yes, it’s silly that this is news, but Kris put together a cat tree for Brix right before Gord had his stroke/heart attack, and it had just been sitting in our office. I honestly didn’t even know it was there because of all the shipping boxes, so when she pulled it out I was a bit perplexed—like, where did this come from? But honestly, that’s how 99% of things arrive in our house…including Ginger.

Anyway, the cat tree was a massive hit, and Kris put it together all by herself (girl power!). Brix loves it—which is funny because there’s already a massive cat tree in the corner plus a bunch of other cat stuff. I think he likes this one because it only has his smell on it, not Ginger’s.

He’s also chosen the lower hammocks, which is perfect for Goobernoulli to come over and lick him.

USA TODAY

On Monday, USA TODAY published a story about Bunsen saving Bailey. I was interviewed a few months ago, and I think they did an excellent job retelling the story in a video.

Here is the link.

Everyone is Free

This week we tried a new experiment—everyone is free at night. Bernoulli has been out of his crate at night for about a month, and now Brix is too. He had been using Bernoulli’s soft-sided crate, which doesn’t really work because he Kool-Aid Mans his way out of it.

He never minded being crated, but now we’ve left the flap open so he can choose. Sometimes he sleeps in there, but otherwise he has free roam.

It was originally for his safety when he was little—we weren’t sure how he’d do unsupervised overnight—but he’s proven that he’s only mischievous if there’s food left out. So we gave him the chance.

He’s been totally fine! In fact, he comes and cuddles RIGHT NEXT TO BEAKER. I know you want a picture, but it happens at night and I don’t have my phone.

It’s super sweet to see Beaker begrudgingly allow Brix into spaces she thinks are hers.

Ok! That’s it for this week!

No podcast this week

I lost my voice earlier this week, and it’s still pretty rough, so I made the call to cancel the podcast. I’m not sick—I think it’s just strained from all the talking I’ve been doing. And next week doesn’t look any quieter!

Some ways to support what Kris and I do!

Here are few ways you can support the content that Kris and I make!

1. Keep doing what you are doing. You get our newsletter, and read it, and probably like and comment on our content on social media. Thank you, that helps us out and is a free way to support us as each post that gets likes and comments might attract a brand deal!

2. Listen to our podcast if you haven’t yet! It’s totally free! Thank you!

3. Depending on where you look at our social media we have the ability to subscribe to us there for a very small amount of money a month.

4. This newsletter has a donation/paid version. I generally don’t do much extra, but I will try to do a bonus newsletter when I can.

5. Check out our books and stuffies on our website!

6. Lastly, our Paw Pack Plus is like our patreon. Kris and I, along with hundreds of our fans have built a really vibrant community with tons of bonus content and live chats every week.

Talk next week!