“Wilderness is a necessity. . . There must be places for human furry* beings to satisfy their souls.”

- edited quote from John Muir

My mission put simply is to bridge the gap between the man-made world and the environment dogs have evolved from to build a model that could be placed into the skankiest part of Bangkok, Thailand and find a way to thrive on the backbone of our core philosophies. 

Now we don't need to go to Bangkok any time soon aside from personal endeavors for there is a dog community to nurture right here in the Central Cascades. 

A year since the official launch for Macs Dog Camp the mission has evolved from using the private space I am so lucky to work in, to now expanding to the millions of acres of surrounding wilderness to build strong, diverse dog packs that can be trusted on all sorts of adventures. 

Using my background as a wilderness first responder and recreationist I have combined my skills with a relentless focus on getting in tune with how dogs interact in a pack. I have taken in a wide range of breeds over the years and rarely reject a dog for I believe every dog craves nature just like us and it is in their nature to figure out who they are within a pack. When they can do that they become free of all worries and can enjoy life to the fullest. Just run, swim, play, eat, sleep, and repeat. The good life. 

By building comfort for your pups around your recreation equipment like bikes, skis, kayaks, and paddle boards the goal is to give them more confidence to go with you on all the things you like to do. The result being a stronger bond and more adventure options for all. Most importantly we want to strengthen recall and all obedience skills to manage the abundance of distractions in the wilderness. Together we will create the right blend of tools and learning environment for your pup to succeed knowing there is no one single method for every dog. 

This is where we plant the disclaimer. Plans do often change while out in the field because dogs will be dogs. It gets complex especially integrating new pups to the pack regularly. These are your babies and as much as I want them to live their best life I want them to return back to you safe… and possibly quite dirty. I carry first aid and rescue gear, and train for scenarios. Managing varying energies, excersize needs, and whatever the elements throw at us sets up success and I take pride in my record of keeping pups safe. Thankfully I've never had to take a pup into the vet and will do everything in my power to make sure it does not happen. 

Our core values are Trust, Empathy, Adaptability, and Joy. Without trust how can you enjoy your time away from pup? It’s hard for me to tune my energy as a wrangler when the trust isn’t felt on both sides so I take no offense to those who decide it's not for their pup. I am still working on catering to a wider range of breeds and sizes. That said I’ve had Wiener dogs playing with Great Danes and Newfoundlands. Dog packs can be governed just as much by strength of character as they can by size and breed. If you can keep up, have the stamina, and the others respect your boundaries you can hang. I will make sure they respect your boundaries little one. 

Empathy is our greatest gift of consciousness in my opinion. Who is the most idyllic teacher of this skill? The dog, maybe second to a newborn baby but regardless I highly value empathy working with dogs and their owners. Every dog has a story, some have traumas from this life or a past. They deserve an opportunity to live their best life. Empathy is in understanding their story and working to build back that dog within the dog forced to live in our world. 

Adaptability comes a close second to empathy in its importance in this field. Think of all the various breeds, temperaments, and backgrounds of dogs out there, put them on an island and see what happens. My version of Lord Of The Flies awaiting its publishing. Point is in this business the skill of adapting to many different dogs, to the wilderness, weather, diversity of owners, criticism of doubters, and all unforeseen challenges is so important. It is in those moments of comfort I grow wary of what I am not prepared for. 

Finally joy is that quintessential value that should drive all dog businesses. I do need to make a living but the moment that need starts taking too much from my joy jar I will move on or take a break.