About Rachel
Rachel is the Owner and voice behind The Savvy Mutt, and a proud dog mom to Cali and Willow. As a lifelong dog lover, she created The Savvy Mutt dog blog to share practical, research-backed advice on dog behavior, training, enrichment, natural dog care, and everyday dog ownership.
Growing up with dogs sparked a lifelong passion for understanding what helps them thrive. Over the decades, Rachel has studied dog behavior, nutrition, enrichment, and natural care while gaining hands-on experience with dogs at every stage of life. She believes that informed, compassionate care creates stronger relationships between dogs and the people who love them.
Her mission is simple: help dog owners build happier, healthier relationships with their dogs through easy-to-understand information and real-life experience. When she’s not writing, you’ll likely find her exploring dog-friendly places in Boise, Idaho, testing natural pet products, or spending time with her own energetic and fun-loving pups.
What makes The Savvy Mutt different from other pet blogs?
- Provides dog-training and behavior guidance aimed at practical, owner-focused results, emphasizing understanding dogs motivation, clear rules, and consistent, reward-based strategies.
- Focuses specifically on the unique needs, behaviors, and health benefits of mixed-breed dogs (mutts).
- Blends practical, experience-based dog care with a focus on natural living, enrichment, and real-life behavior tips, all delivered through a family-backed, relatable voice.
- Built around community-driven storytelling, allowing everyday pet parents to share personal adoption and soul dog stories.
- Champions local shelter advocacy and boosting rescue adoptions.
- Emphasizes understanding why dogs behave the way they do and how owners can solve everyday challenges through training, management, and observation, blending personal experience with practical advice.
- Focuses on natural dog living and enrichment, behavior, training, and pet product research, blending science-based guidance with hands-on testing of gear, treats, and supplies.
- Founder-led, family-driven perspective shapes the voice, goals, and examples in posts.
The Savvy Mutt exists because of every dog Rachel and her family have rescued, loved, and lost over the years.
Rachel has shared her life with dogs since childhood. Her first dog slept beneath her crib and grew up alongside her, creating a bond that shaped her love for animals from the very beginning. That deep empathy naturally extended to many other pets over the years, including a large iguana named Zeus, who had his own backyard sunroom. Zeus joined the family for walks and spent time outdoors on sun-warmed rocks. Rachel and her family have also cared for bunnies, fish, hamsters, birds, quirky cats, and, of course, many unique and wonderful dogs.
Dogs have always stood out to her. They combine intelligence with emotional awareness, kindness, humor, and an incredible capacity for joy. They love unconditionally, live fully in the present, and seem to understand people in ways that often feel almost magical. Once a dog forms a deep bond with you, your life is forever changed. They make you feel loved, understood, and genuinely seen.
To know The Savvy Mutt is to know the dogs who inspired it.
The Savvy Mutt #1: Cali’s Story
Cali entered a shelter when she was only two months old. A foster family cared for her briefly before placing her in another foster home. Eventually, that home could no longer keep her. I later learned that her foster kept her in a kennel for 8 to 10 hours each workday and also kenneled her at night. She had very little opportunity to explore, play, or interact with people. Her foster described her as independent, quiet, and content to be alone.
During an online search, I randomly came across her photo. My husband and I immediately knew we wanted to meet her, so we arranged to meet at a local park. By then, Cali was six months old. She had never walked on a leash or received any training.
I sat down in the grass to make myself approachable. She ran straight to me, covered me with kisses, and bounced around with pure excitement. My husband received the same enthusiastic welcome. We felt an instant connection.
The ride home was hard, as being in the card frightened her. She trembled the entire way as I sat beside her, trying to comfort her. Even after we arrived, she looked uncertain and lacked confidence. She never barked or whined. Instead, she quietly watched everything around her. We gave her space, spent time playing with her outside, and quickly discovered she absolutely loved squeaky toys.
Over the next few weeks, Cali slowly found her confidence and eventually found her voice. One evening, she let out a howl really took us by complete surprise! She sounded exactly like a hound, even though she’s primarily Terrier and Cattle Dog.
Today, Cali serves as my emotional support animal and has more confidence than any dog I’ve known in more than 50 years. She alerts us to every delivery person, announces every unfamiliar sound, and happily whines whenever she wants to play. She also makes the funniest little growling noises while wrestling with her adopted sister, Willow.
Cali has transformed into an entirely different dog. She shares a bond with me that words can’t possibly describe, and I can’t imagine life without her. She joined our family in June 2023.
The Savvy Mutt #2: Willow’s Story
Cali has endless energy. Before long, we realized she needed another dog who could match her enthusiasm and give her a true playmate. This is how we found Willow.
Some parts of Willow’s story remain a mystery. A rescue found her as a stray and placed her with a foster family here in Idaho. After a few weeks in foster care, we came across her, online. Her bright, sparkling eyes immediately caught our attention. You could just feel her happiness through the computer screen.
No one knows her exact birth date or age. A veterinarian estimated that she was about a year and a half old based on the size of her uterus at the time.
Her foster brought Willow, then named Snow, to our home for a meet-and-greet with Cali. We all walked the dogs together first to see how they interacted. They connected almost immediately, although Willow definitely showed her Husky side by pulling hard on the leash.
Next, we brought both dogs into our backyard and removed their leashes. Within seconds, they launched into an energetic wrestling match. They played hard for several minutes before we stepped in and encouraged them to take a break because they had worked themselves into complete exhaustion.
That afternoon made the decision easy. Cali and Willow fit together perfectly, and they have remained inseparable ever since.