You’re willingness to share such details is really thoughtful. Thank you!

I’m not familiar with the groups you mentioned, nor have I considered raising bees or hogs, but honestly, those sound like wonderful hobbies and right up my alley.

Also, I took your off-reading as intentioned. Lol. I’m looking at 4x4 SUVs to be rigged, lifted, and trimmed out for overlanding, and dirt roads is what I’m in search of. 👍

I also agree with you about the recall-proofing and training. My boy is a standard poodle from a working line, so he’s a rugged, hearty hiking buddy. That said, while I understand the reasoning for e-collars, it’s something I won’t use, but I never allow him off-leash in non-designated areas and absolutely won’t unless his recall is completely solid. Given his size, I know he can look intimidating when at a full run, so long-lines work really well as a hybrid while he’s growing and learning, not to mention that an unleashed dog approaching another (leashed or otherwise), is just unsafe for all parties. Luckily, he loves training, but he also has a moderate chase drive since he’s a retriever (not kill/eat) so we’ve got quite a bit of work to do to mitigate that (plus, he’s a teenager still, so…lol). He knows hand signals and I’ve just started him on whistle training.