The Naughty Dogge

09/04/2026

A tiny package of too-much

09/03/2026

Right now, my dogs and I are driving home after six weeks out of the city. Billy and Skye have lived in an RV park, watching the slow meanderings of vacationers, but also living in tight proximity to a multitude of people, their pets and children. I have never raised puppies in this situation before and the results are fascinating to me.

I have two very robust and well socialized puppies, who are used to seeing things, yet have learned to ignore them and just follow me. I can walk them past campers and their dogs and they don’t even acknowledge the people.

When I first went up there, Billy was scared to get out of her crate when we arrived somewhere new. Now, when my car stops, she starts barking, demanding to be let out. Is this ideal? Given where she started, yes, this is ideal. Manners we can work on, confidence is much harder to acquire as is trust about where the car might be taking her.

One of our last nights staying in paradise we ate outside at a pizza shop. Billy joined us, and watched the comings and goings of people next to a car park, which previously was her nemesis. I would score her performance a seven out of 10. She had moments of careful observation with a touch of concern, then would return back to being naughty. For a dog of her age this is very acceptable to me.

Those puppies learned that group adventures means following me. It doesn’t involve a path and rarely involved cookies. We go over logs, under logs, swim across rivers. negotiate currents in rivers, maybe we take ropes up a steep bank which means being picked up and placed down, We travel as a group together and I’m not instructing them to stick with me and nor are they looking for rewards for having done it. My walks in the wilderness have involved zero food. The adventure is reward enough.

As I say this, most of our summer together has involved zero training treats. It hasn’t been about the rewards or consequences, even though they may sometimes be there. It’s about our relationship, us going together and the fun we can have together. We are a family unit so to speak. This is so very different to anything I have done before, and the results are so much better than what I’ve gotten before. They both understand my tone of voice, If I have a slight edge, they rethink what they are doing. An increased edge and they instantly abort and come to me. I love this as I need no tools.

All this time we’ve walked through town, and through the RV park every single day, and I have put a leash on them less than five times total. They don’t leave me. That’s untrue, They totally leave me and go and explore, but if I need them to be close they are with me. Having young dogs off leash like this feels like a rare gift. It’s so freeing.

Billy is the first puppy I’ve ever had that I’m yet to do any formal training. At the start, I didn’t feel she was in the right headspace. Now I do. I must get going, but honestly, I’ve enjoyed my vacation so much. It does make me excited now to teach her stuff. The good part in this is I won’t have to work on her keeping her focus on me as I never lose it.

Skye is very different to Billy. She’s much more simple, even though that is the wrong word. She’s easier to train, that’s what I mean. She has a natural strength to her and also a franticness to her. When she has to solve a problem, her default is to panic first. I used swimming to help her deal with this, and the difference in her swimming style is obvious now. However, a few days ago she and Johnny ran into a wasps nest. Both dogs came back, covered in wasps. Johnny stood and let us remove them, whereas Skye panicked and fought me.. This means we have more work to do. Yesterday I did some with asking her to stand still and me straddling her for toenails and grooming in a public place. She argued a tiny bit about me standing over top of her, but in this context, it was easy. For her, she may just need to learn this again and again and again until it becomes habit.

What I’ve managed to instill in these two puppies is a Bluetooth connection. No matter where they are and what they’re doing, even when mentally free, they are still connected to me. I have this with all of my young dogs The glaring difference is they don’t do it because I might give them something - they do it because this is what we do.

While in words it sounds so subtle, the relationship difference is immense. Being surrounded by people yet having all the freedom they had created very stable dogs that don’t want to go greet strangers, and don’t expect something from me for not having done so.

I love this new result

Monique Anstee
Author of As a Dog Thinketh and Lift Your Leg- the podcast

08/27/2026

Billy with her sh*t-eating grin. She’s enjoying her childhood. The other dogs are not enjoying her childhood, except for Uncle Harry.

08/26/2026

Just like that, Skye's p*eing is totally normal. We've had a week of zero weird moments, no accidents in the house or anywhere, and it's as though none of this ever happened. I'm so relieved. Instantly her quality of life has improved ten-fold. She can be out with only light supervision all day. My quality of life has improved ten-fold also, and I have more time. I no longer have to do laundry once or twice a day for her, nor do I have to be laser focused to have her out with me.

Relief is my word of the week. Relief that she is healthy, and relief that my work-load just got decreased by 2/3rds.

Life is good.

Monique Anstee
Author of As a Dog Thinketh, and Lift Your Leg - the podcast

08/22/2026

My darling boy, here a superstar, and below, watching over his campground!

🐐 The Malinois GOAT at the 2026 CWDF National Championship! 🇨🇦

And he is none other than Fox Hill’s A’Harry, a son of Expat’s Bronson × Christie vom Esadera, trained and handled by our dear friend Monique Anstee. ❤️

I’ll never forget the journey Harry had to make during COVID—from the USA, across borders and all the way to the other side of Canada—to finally be united with Monique. It certainly wasn’t easy, but seeing the two of them at the Nationals makes every bit of that effort feel worth it.

So incredibly proud of this team. Congratulations, Monique and Harry, and congratulations to Harry’s breeder! 🏆🐾

What a journey. What a team. ❤️

08/21/2026

Today was a first for Harry and I. He is my exploring partner, but some explorations exclude him. Today's escapades typically would leave him out, only today he was invited. It was a hike in, then a swim to explore a cave. Hiking he loves. Swimming he loves. Caving he loves. One would assume all three together would be heaven for him, but apparently Harry has decided I'm an unstable swimmer. To make matters even worse for him our launch into the river began right before some rapids where the current was strong. He is used to strong current, but he's not used to me being beside him in that strong current.

On our first swim across to look at the cave that I couldn't access, he decided all was cool so long as I had one hand on each side of his torso. We swam back further up the river into even stronger current, and when we hit shore, he did his best to not let me swim again. He tried to bite my flipper as I put it on, continued to try and head me off so I couldn't make forward progress, and generally was a pain in the ass. We made it back across the river to a different entrance to the cave, explored it, then headed back now down stream to look for more.

We had to go through a series of rapids with very strong current sweeping us forwards. With my hands on his torso he merrily led the way, so long as he knew I was with him. When we hit these rapids, I had to let him go - I needed my hands for swimming. I stopped myself on a rock, he turned around and came and stopped with me. We regrouped and went for it, at which point he realized how fun it was. It suddenly clicked to him that we were going somewhere, looking for something and that I am a strong swimmer, and he switched from worrying to loving it. It was fascinating to see him change his mind when he realized we were going somewhere with purpose.

Even better, now he sleeps soundly, enjoying yet another day of his holidays in this magical place. These adventures outside of his comfort zone do him good. They wake up stable Harry.

Monique Anstee
Author of As a Dog Thinketh and Lift Your Leg - the podcast

08/16/2026

Today my dogs had a fun morning, and got to await my return while I played in this glorious play land. Sorry dogs, but tomorrow is going to be the same. Cave #2 shown below.

Cave #3 in the river system, here I come!

Monique Anstee
Explorer and Dog Abandoner,
North Vancouver Island

08/15/2026

I previously wrote about Skye getting told off for p*eing at my feet. Since then she has tried really hard to hold her p*e. Exactly what does that look like?

Today, as she was about to squat at my feet, I said her name, she tried to hold her p*e, and as we ran to the door to be let outside, she shot projectile urine everywhere. She ran and fully p*ed on-the -go.

Earlier this day she had a similar moment. She got let out out of her crate, and before she hit her p*e spot, urine shot out of her. Bless her, she’s done as I asked and has stopped squatting at my feet with no warning. Now she runs and p*es at the same time.

Honestly, I so admire and appreciate her effort. What an honest dog she is. Seeing her do this, as much as it irritates me, I’m so proud of her for trying.

More importantly, now that she’s putting in this effort it’s clear this isn’t behavioural or in her head She has a true physical issue that needs medical help Her vet that explained that she’s scent marking should listen to his clients… or learn what scent marking looks like.

Once the rain starts and I move inside my house, how on earth can I live with this dog? Right now it’s easy as I’m never inside. I never dreamt this would be the puppy I got to raise for her USA home, and it’s such a shame because she’s a super dog. The saddest part is she could really benefit from the veterinary hospital in Seattle but we can’t go until she’s six months. What a tragic rule.

Monique Anstee
Author of As a Dog Thinketh, and Lift Your Leg – the podcast

08/10/2026

A video of our strenuous training days…

08/10/2026

Whenever my puppies have an adventure that pushes them outside of their comfort zone, I pay for it the next day. These moments build confidence and teach resilience and strength, but as a consequence makes them idiotic foolish nitwits the following day. With their newfound confidence they don't think they need to listen, and they believe they are invincible as they run with stupid energy and no thought. Not listening is forbidden, and running with no thought will get you killed. I cannot take them places if they will not listen and think. I must be able to control them to keep them safe.

Every adventure that pushes them outside of their comfort zone is followed with the following day me reminding them that my tones of voice matter, that I am not to be forgotten, and that the Queen of their world is not Billy, but me. I started off realizing the greatest tool I had was my ball cap. I've become rather brilliant at flapping it at them, throwing it when needed, or whomping someone with it. However, they are taller, stronger, and faster, and I needed a new back up. From some moment of inner genius when I was packing for the North, I happened to pack my Flag on a long stick. That is now my tool of choice, and used as a magic wand literally can turn either galloping offender into frozen stone.


However, it isn't without its problems. My magic wand is very powerful and I must be mindful that I'm not accidentally flapping it, so today as we walked and swam the river, I shoved it into the back of my wetsuit. On the way back as we hit very tall trees I could hear a big bird flapping. I'm always mindful of little Billy so kept trying to see where this big bird was. After about five minutes of walking, stopping and looking, walking then hearing it again, I realized the flag was the flapping bird I'd been hearing.

At least I'm a good dog trainer.

As for the one that never stops p*eing, I hit my breaking point. We were outside, she did her three p*es, and we walked straight through the house. She ran straight to the dog bed and did a big p*e right in the middle. For the first time she got in big trouble. She cried and sobbed while all the campers here thought I was abusing her. However, yesterday, for the first time she held her p*e. She gave me a look, which was a first as normally she looks and squats at the same time. I took her out and she did a big p*e, like a normal puppy. Nothing is fixed, but at least she is thinking about p*eing. I wanted to buy myself a bottle of champage for my first success. I felt I deserved it.

What living in a campground is teaching these two puppies is that we can be off leash, and they must stick with me and not run to greet other people and dogs. It isn't foolproof just yet, but what I have is really quite brilliant.

Billy has now had 1 leash walk. and Skye has had two They can both swim, kayak, tube and get on and off, run on uneven terrain, know to look for holes in the ground as they run, and know how to right their feet mid-motion which should help prevent future injuries. They can do all types of stairs, floor surfaces, and follow me through water, land or underground, and through immediate distractions. They play nice with toys - Skye needs more work on sharing her toys. Both are good with toe-nails and being held and groomed. Billy’s sound sensitivity is long gone, and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her worried. Both are still to yet to learn sit, down, wait, leave it. They have a whole lifetime for that when their current adventures stop.

Please remember to like comment and share so that FB put me into the algorithms.

Monique Anstee, failing at life but still succeeding with two puppies.
Author of As a Dog Thinketh and Lift Your Leg - the podcast