The 2 am chiming of the handmade Freiburg Grandfather Clock, whose presence overwhelmed the small dining room where it rested, temporarily drowned out the click, click, click sound of nails being dragged across the hardwood floor as Walter systematically scanned the dark outside world from the vantage point of every window in the house. However, the clanging, four-note melody, which repeated itself three times every hour, failed to distract Walter from his nightly vigilance.

“Willow, come play!” Willow winced as she pressed her hind end as hard as she could against the rusty chainlink fence that surrounded the two-acre dog park. Years ago, she had discovered the fence’s ability to protect that area of her body, while her teeth took care of defending the rest.

Hundreds of years ago, when Christian Humanist and scholar, Desiderius Erasmus penned the phrase “Man’s mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than to truth,” I am sure he wasn’t contemplating the future opinions of dog owners, dog trainers, veterinarians, and all other so-called behavioral experts about the use of “shock” collars for training dogs.

In the cold, predawn darkness, I could barely make out the form of my four-month-old Siberian Husky pup, Tikaani, as he tugged against the ten-foot line that was secured to a nylon climbing belt fastened around my waist. With a low center of gravity built for easily pulling a heavy sled across frozen terrain and a nearly black coat, I was only aware of his presence because of the persistent jolts to my lower spine and the accompanying wheezing and hacking that occurred each time Tikanni threw his weight against his choke collar in an attempt to make me walk faster.

Just the other day, I was driving home from an outing with my dog when I passed a billboard announcing the annual, pre-Christmas sale at a major, local retailer. I remembered thinking, really? How can this be? Weren’t the holidays just here yesterday? Suddenly, the relaxing day I was having turned into anything but that as I began to go through my annual, mile-long, stress-inducing, pre-holidays mental checklist.

When I was a young boy, my mother would ask me each year what I wanted for Christmas. So each year, my answer would include the stuff of boys’ dreams like a G. I. Joe, a new BB gun, a train set, model airplanes, and fishing poles. One year, I really went big and asked for a new Yamaha dirt bike. However, to my disappointment, when each Christmas morning rolled around, I was seldom given the toys or other items I had so desperately wanted and instead, handed freshly wrapped boxes containing socks, underwear, boots, jeans, and flannel shirts.

In the blink of an eye, your dog lights out across the open lawn, but before you can react, it disappears into a far-off stand of trees bordering the park. Calling for your dog, you race to the spot where you last saw it while your mind races even faster to figure out what caused your dog to suddenly bolt from your side and run off without even a backward glance in your direction!

Recently, I was advised by an Emmy award-winning news reporter that I have 7 seconds to capture my audience with my blogs, articles, Facebook live events, radio shows, and so forth, or otherwise, they’re gone. Only the week before that, I was warned by a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert that prospective clients spend, on average, a mere 7 seconds on a website’s page before they bounce (that’s SEO slang for they’re gone). To make matters worse, a month previous, I was informed by a clinical psychologist that the average attention span of most people is approximately 7 seconds. All of which means, by now, there’s an excellent chance I’m writing this blog for myself.

Ranger, my seven-year-old, male, Alaskan sled dog, is lying on the frozen ground chewing a stick when Scarlett, a new twelve-week-old female pup, cautiously noses up to him to investigate what he is chewing. Her inquiry is met immediately with a hard, deliberate stare that is accompanied by a low menacing growl. Like an echo from a distant time when all aggression was sparked by competition for survival, Ranger’s growl leaves no doubt as to the outcome if Scarlett fails to heed his warning.