image via – youtube.com

A dog is probably the only creature on earth who is going to care more about you than you care about yourself. Their selfless devotion over thousands of years of domestication has made them the most popular pet in America and for a very good reason. They don’t call these wonderful animal’s ‘man’s best friend’ for nothing. There is pretty much the perfect canine out there for just about every person on all of planet earth.

Whether you want a small dog for city living, a family dog if you have children, a guard dog for protection or you just want a best bud to hang out with everyday… the skies the limit! These faithful companions come in all shapes and sizes and it’s really just a matter of finding that good pup that matches your personality perfectly.

Let’s quickly take a look at the history between humans and canines before we get into today’s incredible story about a wild wolf and a pet dog:

Around 200,000 years ago humans began walking the earth. Since the inception of the human race, shelter, house, communities and eventually civilizations began cropping up all over planet earth. What’s more interesting is we didn’t build and evolve all on our own we had a few loyal friends who tagged along and helped us on our human journey through history. Probably, the one species of animal the most intertwined with our own evolution is Canis Lupus Familiaris or what we call dogs!

What makes this odd alliance even stranger is that modern day dogs evolved one of man’s initial biggest threats. This mammal species is known as Canis Lupus or what most of all call wolves. Around 100,000 years ago our ancestors began populating the land mass of Eurasia. The wolf was one of the only creatures on the planet that could match us humans near the top of the food chain. How the two species interacted with their own kind was actually very similar…

The two species both hunted in groups or packs. The hunter and gatherers would work as one finely tuned machine, to seek, find and then catch their prey for survival. Wolves also hunted in hierarchal pack and would also work with coordinated strikes and precise accuracy as they sought out their prey.

Our ancestors and wolves were indeed very social creatures, and used these advanced social skills in order to take down animals much larger than themselves which in turn would leave them wasting less time hunting and more time consuming energy and nutrition.

Wolves thrived at the top of the food chains for thousands of years before modern day humans ever appeared however, now that these strange bipedal hominids were encroaching on their territory they had some very serious competition on their paws.

While the two species would clash head on for many years some wolves who were kicked out or ostracized from their pack noticed that if they weren’t aggressive towards a human community this could be a pretty easy way to get food and survive without having to face the world alone. The strong and powerful wolves remained in their packs and refused to back down to the humans however, the weaker and more scavenger type of canines began to outlast and outlive their more dominant predecessors due to their new alliance with these strange 2 legged hominids.

As years passed, the traits of these less aggressive and scrap grabbing Canines we’re passed down through their DNA and they began living closer and closer to our ancestors. As we provided them leftover food they in turn would help us hunt and defend our lands and communities. It was a symbiotic relationship that was just the perfect match made in heaven.

Because both species preferred living in packs, it wasn’t too difficult for these docile wolves to integrate with the human population and eventually begin living in their homes. It is thought that these animals were the first domesticated animals ever. These first wolf-dog hybrids showed up around 30,000 years ago.

As time went on these wolf-dogs soon evolved into our modern day dogs. These evolutions and changes in look were drastic for some breeds and less so for others. Humans had successfully domesticated these canines for almost any purpose they needed them for..

With all that being said it is no wonder dogs are known as man’s best friend and they have been living with us symbiotically for so long. Before these animals were domesticated, they looked a lot like their ancestors the wild wolf. Wolves are powerful, ferocious and not to be messed with. They are apex predators, master hunters and can potentially be very dangerous to humans. With all that beings said, this brings us to today’s incredible story..

image via – youtube.com

One day, a man noticed a black wolf coming towards his house as he was out on the porch. His dog somehow got outside and the photographer quickly began to panic as the two animals would soon be face to face. He knew what grave danger his dog was potentially in, however he couldn’t do anything but watch because he didn’t want to spook the wolf and put him into attack mode. His dog saw the wolf coming closer and closer and his curiosity got the best of him..

image via – youtube.com

When they were finally about an arms length from each other he feared for the worst. But then the unthinkable happened, instead of the wolf viciously attacking they began to actually play just like two dogs! He stayed vigilant because he knew a wolf could suddenly turn and hurt is good pup.

image via – youtube.com

After a while the wolf disapearred back into the wild and the dog came back to his house. Soon the wolf came back while all 3 of their dogs were outside and the same thing happened! The wolf was enjoying playtime with these dogs which is super rare in nature. The man began to take lots of photos and videos everytime the wolf would return.

image via – youtube.com

Somehow, the wolf never attacked any of the dogs and would rather just have some new fun friends! The story of the wild wolf who plays with dogs quickly spread throughout the town and other people began bringing their dogs to come play with the wolf. Somehow, the wolf intuitivally knew that these were his distant cousins and really just wanted to join the pack.

image via – youtube.com

As time went on and the wolf and dogs had their daily playdate it became evident to the photographer that they were definitely safe. Before he knew it, the wolf wasn’t only playing with his dogs, he enjoyed playing with humans as well! The wolf began collecting toys and would play fetch and bring them to the dogs so they could partake as well! Nature never ceases to amaze me!

image via – youtube.com

let us know what you think of this story in the comments

Please SHARE This Story With Family and Friends

In our next featured video we have a man who renovated an old retired plane into his dream home:

image via – youtube.com

Many people want that nice colonial house, in the burbs with a well mown lawn and a perfect little white picket fence. While others prefer more; shall we see exotic shelters that are completely unique, creative and many times out of this world! I myself am somewhere in the middle, I’d like the nice comforts of a small town, or maybe even a small city, but at the same time I could see myself going off the grid living in an old in one of the houses from the tiny house movement! Anyway with all that being said, this brings us to today’s fascinating story which features a unique man named Bruce Campbell age 66, citizen of planet earth..

Bruce spent the greater portion of his life as an engineer before he retired a few years back. Ever since his retirement he’s found himself with a lot of extra time on his hands. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do after he retired but after many hours of contemplation he came up with up with an idea.

Bruce has pretty much always been obsessed with airplanes ever since he was a kid. He owned a plot of land he bought many years prior, now he just needed to find the cashflow to get an old retired plane that can’t fly anymore. He pursued his goal and ended up purchasing a Boeing 727 Jet Airplane for $100,000! Seems like a good deal? Maybe I’m not really familiar with old, none functioning plane prices…

The easy part had been accomplished. Bruce was now the proud owner of a broken down Boeing 727 that will never fly again. But now the hard part was just beginning…. Bruce had to somehow get the plane from the place he bought it from and transfer it 1000’s of miles into the lush forests of Oregon.

Somehow Bruce figured out how he was going to transport the big plane. The only problem was, this transportation job was going to end up being more expensive than the 727 itself! At this point he was so zoned in on his goal of having his airplane dream house in the middle of the forest was happening no matter what the cost! For those of you interested the transport alone was $120,000!

So now he found himself with an empty plane in the middle of the woods and he was already $220,000 deep into this once in a lifetime project. He initially thought he could get it done from start to finish in a year…. However he completely underestimated the complexity of this job. It took him years of planning, he was going to make sure everything was perfect…

Have a great day!

Please SHARE This With Family and Friends

In our next featured video of the day take a tour of The Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers which was built in the 13th century and has remained untouched since 1932:

image via – youtube.com

When you think of a castle you likely imagine a sturdy, imposing fortress that was built from stone and surrounded by a water-filled moat. After all, castles were purposefully constructed to keep people safe and protected inside their walls. They are what stood between everything from marauding enemies to wild beasts and the destructive forces of mother nature. Castles were meant to be strong and had to be able to withstand long, drawn out, aggressive sieges. In later years they took on a more extravagant role and today they are seen as dreamy, fantasy-like places, filled with magic and romance.

The abandoned castle seen in this incredible footage is called Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers and it looks like it comes straight out of a Disney movie. The beautiful ruins are located in the town of Les Trois-Moutiers, in the west of France. For centuries the majestic castle has sat in the middle of a heavily wooded area, surrounded by a water filled moat, imposing and elegant all at once.

Today it is being left to slowly fade away back into nature, yet despite the years of neglect, the castle still looks like it’s fit for royalty. All that it needs is the right owner or group to step in and restore it to its former glory. To truly understand the amount of detail and thought that went into constructing this castle, you need to take the video tour because it’s the only thing that gives it justice. You can feel and sense all of the tragedies and triumphs this castle has borne witness to.

It may have been overtaken by nature and seemingly forgotten about, but if these walls could talk they would tell tales of epic battles and grand celebrations. Be sure to check it out and take the tour, here’s more on the history of the Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers.

First and foremost, the castle is filled with history and has quite the tumultuous past. It dates back to at least the 13th century and was originally built as a safe haven for the notable Bauçay family, who were lords of Loudun and answered directly to the king of France himself. Over the following centuries the castle was overtaken twice by English forces during the middle ages before it was eventually given back to the French.

After being restored it went on to become a very popular place where nobility gathered for magnificent galas and lavish, extravagant, over the top parties. The good times didn’t last long though and during the French Revolution the castle was once again destroyed after being sacked.

There it sat for some ten years or so before a well-heeled businessman named Francois Hennecart bought the property with the intent to once again restore it. He managed to add a vineyard but in 1857 it was taken over and passed on to Baron Joseph Lejeune, a wealthy relative of Napoleon III. He rebuilt the castle extensively in the romantic style that was popular at the time and continued on the tradition of holding lavish parties.

It was during a subsequent renovation in 1932 that the castle succumbed to its latest major setback and ever since then it has sat vacant. At the time, the current owner had been installing central heat and somehow a fire was sparked. The resulting damage not only devastated most of the structure, numerous rare pieces of art, furniture, tapestries, books, and paintings were sadly destroyed as well and lost forever.

In recent years there have been a number of efforts to restore Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers, but it seems that everyone who tries gets railroaded into giving up. Hopefully a preservation society or some group can step in and help to rebuild it because it is a seriously beautiful, magically impressive castle that deserves saving.

Have a wonderful day!

Please Pass This On To Your Family and Friends

In our next featured video we have handpicked one of our favorite houses from the ‘Tiny House Movement’. This house may only be 140 Square Feet but it is so nice inside and out:

image via – youtube.com

The tiny house movement and lifestyle that embraces simple living in small spaces has grown immensely in recent years. People from all walks of life the world over are trading in their big open homes for much more modest ones. Many are attracted to the low cost of constructing, maintaining and living in these homes.

Others prefer the freedom they can often provide by being mobile or easily moved. In some places they have even become a popular option for housing the homeless. With such versatile and ever expanding uses its easy to see why tiny house living has become so popular.

A video uploaded by YouTube channel HouzzTV gives an inside look at one woman’s beautiful 140 square foot house for all those curious as to how these houses can look and what they fit. The tiny residence is located on a 1 acre lot in Ojai, California where owner Vina Lustado chose to permanently settle down.

The house was constructed on a trailer with wheels so that it’s classified as temporary housing in order to comply with state law that requires permanent living units be at least 600-700 sq. feet. All of the electricity is supplied by four batteries which are fed by three solar panels and a 7 gallon propane tank fuels a fireplace, stove, and hot water heater.

Inside, the space holds a built in desk, sofa, and loft. There are lots of neat floor to ceiling storage solutions that allow much more to fit than you would expect. Sturdy butcher block kitchen counter tops double as work space and a small refrigerator sits under them.

A skylight in the sleeping loft lets in natural light and can also act as a fire escape in case of emergencies. A large porch seems to double and expand the inside space outwards and can fit up to 10 people comfortably.

The scaled down house is eye opening as to how little a person actually needs to be comfortable and happy. Vina has fit everything in such a neat and organized fashion that she even has room for guests to sleep over in a lofted area above the desk.

Her micro home sits among a scenic forest, surrounded by beautiful trees and nature. The lifestyle fits exactly what the relaxed and content owner was after, as she says “It’s my house. If I move, it will move with me.” Would you like to live in a home like this?

Hope you enjoy this home as much as I did.

Please Pass This On To Your Family and Friends

In our next featured video we found another tiny house built at the top of a mountain completely off the grid. The man who built this beautiful house is a professional snowboarder who wanted to live away from all the hustle and bustle of everyday life and find piece in nature:

image via – youtube.com

Going Of The Grid is a series on the Seekers Stories network where Laura Ling explores the lives of people who are completely disconnected from the grid. Currently their are over 180,000 Americans a year who are choosing to veer away from the modern internet-focused world in pursuit of something simpler and more sustainable.

Mike Basich a pro-snowboarder decided to live life off the grid, where he built a tiny cabin on top of a mountain in Truckee, CA. His house is only 225 square feet, and sits in the lap of nature, where he awakens to the sun and goes to sleep to the sunset.  He states that unlike the city life where you are always racing time, here he can be in sync with nature while living a simple life of solitude.

The house does not have plumbing, but does pick up running water from a stream that runs close to his tiny cabin.  The house doesn’t have an indoor toilet or a real shower, but he did build a sweet hot tub outside.  The shape of the house is designed through the golden ratio which makes things more pleasant to the eye.  This cozy cabin is absolutely amazing.

He is inspired by nature and allows it to fuel his creativity through photography.  Living off the grid is a dream that Mike has had since he was a little kid and he is finally living his dream. Would you ever live off the grid, why or why not? What do you think of Mike’s tiny cabin off the grid?

Please Pass This Beautiful On To Your Family and Friends

In our next featured video we found a cave discovered by an artist who decided to be secluded from society for 25 years and transformed this cave into beautiful art and living space.

image via – youtube.com

In the high desert of Northern New Mexico, you can hear the sounds of a man entranced in his work underground in a cave.  You will see a small entry that opens into a cavern, where Ra Paulette has spent the last 25 years carving New Mexico’s sandstone into magnificent art. He’s spent years doing this work with the company of only his dog.

When asked if he is a man obsessed with cave digging, he gives the really thoughtful response: “Is a child obsessed with play?”  He waxes on to say, that when you love what you are doing, you are driven to do it all the time.  He sees his majestic pieces as environmental projects; his goal is to inspire people such that they open up emotionally, in response to the enormity and power of what his carvings evoke.

It can be said that he has created magic in the underground caves that he has carved.  They are at once intimate and overwhelming.  Interestingly, Ra doesn’t see himself as an artist, but simply as a man expressing his sense of wonder in a passionate way.  I would beg to differ with his opinion that he is not an artist.  What he has created, is livable art of unbelievable power.

The video you are about to watch tells the rest of his story, and gives you a tour  of his magnificent caves.  Unbelievably, his work had no notoriety until a filmmaker asked to do a documentary about Ra.  Called “Cave Digger”, the film ended up winning an academy award!

Let us know your reaction to this story of peaceful man who’s purpose was a dedication to his craft.  I can guarantee that you are about to view something you have never seen before.

Please Pass This Onto Your Family and Friends