There's no better place on earth

Yesterday evening, I looked up at the clouds.

They were painted with the most amazing pink hues, hints of the sun descending.

I told Jennifer afterwards that I don’t recall our skies here in eastern Washington being so wild and picturesque. The fluffy clouds amidst the deepest blue sky has been a common scene every day I look up.

Is this a special year in which God’s cloud artists are busier than ever?

Then it occurred to me. Last year we were still living beneath the trees!

There were no vast stellar star displays at night, no cloudy color splashes—just trees.

Pondering the wonder of this, it occurred to me the reason why the Dire Wolf Project exists in no better place than eastern Washington state.

And being the Project’s globe trotter, I have been in nearly every state of this amazing land of ours.

Oh, don’t get me wrong!

Every part of this country is unique and beautiful.

It isn’t a beauty contest we’re talking about here.

Our ponderosa pines, wild blue skies, and the view of the Columbia certainly compete.

But that is not why we live here.

For the DireWolf Express, the eastern seaboard would be the most practical place to live. Puppies could be delivered from a central eastern state like North Carolina in the matter of hours rather than days.

And this appeals to me greatly.

Show me an amazing forty acres with waterfalls in the Carolina mountains and I just might consider it still.

But proximity is only one factor in the Dire Wolf Project setting.

The plusses and minuses all compete until you find a perfect formula.

The quality of our dog’s life is paramount.

Their safety numero uno.

Let’s break it all down.

In Washington, we have but one major concern—wild fires. A hot, dry summer can be devastating. Our property is trimmed down of all of its undergrowth surrounding the kennels and the lower branches of most of our pines are lopped off.

Hopefully, we never see a fire touching our acreage. But if so, we’re prepared.

Washington does not have:

1. the earthquakes of California,
2. the tornadoes of the midwest,
3. the hurricanes of the southeast,
4. nor the bitter cold winters of the north.
5. And I wonder how we would keep our puppies cool in the hot desert of the southwest where it can hover around 100 degrees at night.
6. And in western Oregon, where Lois still keeps her kennels, there is just too much rain. Period.

From Kansas all the way to New England and Florida, heartworm is an essential year-round treatment. If you live there, just imagine buying a year’s supply of heartworm medicine for 20 plus dogs!

Oh, and we don’t have to deal with fleas here, either.

If a tornado or hurricane ever came to visit, the kennels would be devastated and so would our animals. One twister would carry DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito to a different state, never to be seen again.

So no Kansas or Nebraska.

And then there is government overreach.

Stevens county, where we live, has very few regulations when it comes to running a kennel. Ask anyone living in California if they are regulated to death. And I have the impression similar limitations exist all over New England and other places.

Our wonderful county is adept at leaving well enough alone.

Live and let live.

And so we live here, in our special corner of the universe. It is not perfect, but it is as perfect a place to care for our dogs as one may find.

If you disagree, please reply and show me a more fitting place.

I hope it has forty acres with a few waterfalls.

We have updated the Monster Movie Litter with the second temperament testing notes as well as new pictures.

Head on over to the Monster Movie litter page to check it all out.

Here’s the link:

https://direwolfdogs.com/litters/64/

Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.