Divine Canine

Devotion. Obedience. Fulfillment. These are some of the qualities that the brothers of New Skete, an order of Eastern Orthodox monks, strive to cultivate. One of the ways they do so is unique: by raising dogs. The monks have deeply spiritual relationships with their dogs, and they often use the bonds with these animals to experience enlightenment and gain a more profound appreciation of nature and the mystery of God. Each week, we'll follow Brother Christopher and the other monks, and explore their unique relationships with the dogs that they breed and raise along with the outside dogs they train at their picturesque 500-acre monastic community in the rolling valleys of Cambridge, N.Y. We'll see how their holistic training approach can turn even the most resilient of misbehaving dogs into loving and obedient companions, to the delight of their previously frustrated human families. Using their adorable German shepherd puppies as examples, the monks will also demonstrate how most of the bad habits possessed by adult dogs can be quelled at an early age through a variety of simple daily training rituals that are designed to create a calm and stable environment for man's best friend. (Source: http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/divine-canine/about/)