Canine Massage @ Il Fornaio

I had a very exciting lunch yesterday; one that I'd been anticipating for a while. First I had been asked to choose our meeting place; I chose Il Fornaio in Irvine. Il Fornaio is a wonderfully authentic Italian restaurant with amazing food. Second I was to meet the owner of a Japanese Holistic Dog care facility; Dog Relation and her husband. We spent two hours over lunch discussing dog behavior and living with dogs both in America and Japan. Ms. Matsue found me through my blog; pretty amazing and evidence of just how small the internet makes our world. I sat completely fascinated as she explained about working with behaviors and health issues through the art of massage. Of course we discussed my dogs; mostly Luke and his reactive behaviors.

I explained about life with dogs here in America; training and nutrition. And after much of our conversation; I discovered that there are similarities and differences with regards to living with dogs in Japan compared to here. Being that we were discussing dogs and everything about them I felt we could have easily continued well into the dinner hour. Learning about alternative methods of dealing with all things canine is always enlightening. I am always searching for new ways for people to connect with their dog; and this is definitely one more option. When you meet someone who has the same outlook on the canine/human connection it is intriguing to here their perspective.

I had the best time and another fabulous squash raviolli dish; my favorite. I look forward to June when Ms. Matsue will be bringing some of her students back to visit many local dog facilities and events here in America. They will also be visiting my home; meet my gang and I will discuss behavior, the canine/human connection, nutrition and general life with dogs here in the US.