Annie Brody

Camp Unleashed Founder

When I was very little, I loved animals, especially dogs, but my family lived in a  New York City apartment that didn’t allow them. I tried to make do with every other kind of creature from goldfish and turtles to parakeets and gerbils. .

I went on to attend Cornell University’s State Agriculture College. My love of animals inspired a desire to become a veterinarian-- until I met up with a semester of biochemistry, physics, and organic chemistry. I switched my major to communications and pursued a career in the publishing business.

Years later, working in Manhattan and still without a dog of my own, I found myself hanging out at dog parks to get my daily dose of Vitamin Dog. One day as I was coming home from work in a sour mood, I ran into a neighbor walking his dog and realized that petting his puppy lifted my spirits and brought joy to my heart in a simple way that nothing else did.  I felt buoyant, excited — the kind of feeling you have in your gut when you’re smitten with affection for someone.  A few weeks later I found my "soul dog" at the New York City ASPCA — a scruffy, skinny one-year-old Golden Retriever who had been wandering alone in the Bronx. I named him Hero and my life was changed. I became a Dog Person.

Celebrating the relationship between dogs and their people is the goal of Camp Unleashed. For a few days, we live in a dog's world, the natural world — the world both our species depend upon for survival. Our activities encourage people to see the dog’s point of view through a dog's eyes, nose, mouth and ears. And by learning to understand and appreciate our dogs more, we discover our own inner dog.

Come to Camp Unleashed. The process is transformative, the food is excellent, and the most important thing is to have fun.

Eat, sniff, play!

Annie Brody