#29: Have You Ever Seen Your Dog Climb Like This?
A partially blind pup scales a tree (!!), plus a hawk hacks a crosswalk, and an icy summer DIY treat for your dog 🐕
📝 Editor’s Note
Christie was traveling with her family this week, but paid subscribers—we’ve got you. Look out for some bonus content later this month as a thank you for your support. 🙏 BTW, if you’ve been loving what we’re building here at TOC, consider becoming a paid Substack subscriber! It’s just $8/month (less than your fancy coffee order) and helps keep this newsletter running. Plus, yes, we absolutely do a little happy dance every time someone new joins. 💃
🐾 Training Tip of the Week: The Truth About Loving Your Dog Like Family
This week we loved this post from dog separation anxiety expert Julie Naismith, who reminds us just how deep the human-dog bond runs—and how it’s evolving.
She shared that after she wished dog parents a Happy Mother’s Day, the internet wasn't exactly kind. She pointed to a new peer-reviewed study in European Psychologist (2025) by Laura Gillet and Enikő Kubinyi that makes a compelling case—grounded in neuroscience, psychology, and demographics—that “dog parenting is a valid caregiving role in today’s world.”
In the caption, Julie clarifies that it “isn’t about confusing dogs with children.” I will be honest: I am just here for more love in this world–in whatever type of relationship that shows up in. Curious how parenting language in the context of dogs lands for you.
📹 TOC’s Take: Viral Video of the Week
Have you ever seen a dog climb a tree—or balance between a fence and a tree—like Nola does in this fairly jaw-dropping video? One of my favorite parts of this whole story is that Nola doesn’t even scale the fence to get to the other side. She just climbs up to look and sniff lol. The video mentions she’s a quarter treeing walker coonhound as an explanation for this behavior, but breed alone isn’t a sufficient explanation. Nola clearly came into this world with physical capabilities that not every dog has and her genetics likely make certain stimuli and events more reinforcing for her, but no account of behavior is sufficient without looking at the environment. She likely has some history of climbing and her yard has trees right up against the fence. She also has dogs and interesting things on the other side of the fence that might make it more likely for her to climb up to gain better visual access to them. This is a form of enrichment you just don’t see everyday!
🐕 Community Corner: The Pedestrians Who Abetted a Hawk’s Deadly Attack
We were fascinated by this piece from The Atlantic by Katherine J. Wu. It tells the story of a hawk in New Jersey that learned to use a pedestrian crosswalk signal to time its ambush on prey.
Here’s how it worked: the rhythmic clicking of the signal cued the hawk to swoop in on a small flock of birds in a residential yard just as cars blocked the view—giving it the perfect cover. One scientist called it “plausible” that the hawk had learned the whole chain of cause and effect.
I have learned to never underestimate learning on this planet. As Dr. Susan Friedman says, it’s our biological inheritance as animals on earth. Always fun to see a cool example of some complex (but incredibly natural) learning!
🍦 DIY This for Your Dog: Ice Cream Cones!
Hot take: there’s nothing better than an ice cream cone in summer. That’s why we loved this adorable enrichment idea that uses cones for frozen dog treats.
If you try it, tag us! And of course, check with your vet if your dog has a sensitive stomach.
🎙️ One Last Thing: The Dog Who Ended White House Meetings
This week, we couldn’t resist a bit of political dog history. Did you know President Gerald Ford used his golden retriever, Liberty, as a polite excuse to end meetings?
According to this Instagram post, Ford trained Liberty to respond to a subtle signal. When a meeting was dragging on, he’d cue her—and Liberty would wander in, nudge the guests, and create a natural break in the conversation.
It was charming. Disarming. And kind of genius. Liberty, you were a queen. (However, there’s a chance a dog showing up asking for attention would be something that would keep me in that space even longer lol!)
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