Hi! 👋🏼 I’m Haley.

Find me writing about animals, living in a yellow van, and reading lots of books. I’m always here for emotions and nuance!

I adopted my blue heeler Scout in January 2019. Since then, we’ve trained through fear-based dog reactivity, fostered shelter dogs, and navigated ups and downs in between. In January 2023 we hit the road for full-time van life!

What started as a strictly dog training blog has become a place to reflect on so much more (big feelings, adventure, reading, full-time travel…) but still dogs, of course. Always dogs.

You’ll find me:

• Making our bright yellow van a home

• Prioritizing biological fulfillment and play

• Searching for middle ground and nuance

• Reading lots of books (fiction and non)

• Asking why about everything

• Goofing off!

I write about our experiences in the hope that our blunders and realizations can encourage fellow human-dog teams—and because it just feels good to share.

👩🏼‍💻 Meet Haley: Writer, dog nerd, aspiring badass

From starry-eyed kid to full-time dog enthusiast

I’ve long loved dogs, but for years I was confused about what “love” looked like. Was temperament “all in how you raise them”? Were all breeders bad? Didn’t every puppy I saw on the street want me to say hi?

Eventually I dove deeper into the dog world. I haven’t looked back—in 2021 I left a stable marketing job to write about the art and science of our canine companions full time.

Two of my greatest passions are nuance and shared core values. Life complicated! I’m particularly interested in social interactions (especially between species); healthy relationships (with loved ones and ourselves); and understanding that our dogs, lifestyles, and definitions of success don’t have to be the same.

🐺 Meet Scout: Sensitive, hilarious cattle dog mix

From timid shelter dog to confident(ish) companion

Scout is our quirky blue heeler mix. She’s been “shy but sweet” from the moment she arrived at my hometown’s humane society.

A dog attack left her with intense fear-based reactivity early in our journey—but we’ve come a long way with consistent training (and some important perspective shifts on my human end of the leash).

Scout (also known as Scout-o, Dog, and Scoof the Goof) loves playing tug, snuggling with her people, and living in a van. Despite our behavioral modification work and her idiopathic epilepsy diagnosis, our world feels big. This speckled rescue dog continues to teach us about empathy and balance and so much else.

🕺🏼 Meet Sean: Silly, steady, and ready for shenanigans

From “not a dog person” to world-class dog dad*

Sean is our irreverent husband/cheerleader/partner in all things. He works as an engineer with a climate change startup, loves comedy, and always seems to be falling down a new Wikipedia rabbit hole.

Sean was decidedly not a dog person when we first started dating—he’d only interacted with a handful of pets in his entire life—but you’d never know it now. None of this would be possible without his support and silliness.

* Disclaimer that he hates the term dog dad… so naturally, we can’t resist. (More serious feelings about dogs and kids in this podcast episode.)

🚐 Meet Hermes: Full-time van home of our dreams

Our bright yellow house on wheels

Sean and I dreamed about van life for years. The fantasy became a reality in January 2023!

We sold our house to commit to a long-term adventure on the road in Hermes, a yellow Promaster named after the greek god. Our van is perfect for our personal priorities, complete with a travel kennel for Scout, shower for me, and cozy guitar storage nook for Sean.

📝 Acknowledgements

• All images or quotations that aren’t our own are credited in individual pieces. Holler with questions!

• Our logo of Scout holding her yellow frisbee was illustrated by the talented Haley Rogers.

• Nicole Handel took the “About Us” featured photo of me, Sean, and Scout posing just inside Hermes.