Last June my wife, Lisa, and I adopted Logan, a gorgeous 4-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog. He was being fostered in Missouri, and although he didn’t know it yet, he was about to start a journey to his new life.

Logan was used for stud in a puppy mill. He spent his entire life locked in a 2×4 cage, where he couldn’t even sit up.

I would love to be a dog whisperer like dog behaviorist and TV star Cesar Millan, but I definitely have to work harder to deserve the title.

I yell because maybe I take this whole obedience thing too seriously. Or maybe Bernese Mountain Dogs and Saint Bernards are too willful. Or maybe I just have the wrong idea about what a good dog is.