Do You Need to Keep Your Horse Calm?
I can't be the only woman of a certain age whose parents thought she needed to be muffled indefinitely. They...
Unwanted Favors: What’s the Affirmative Response to “No”?
Last month, we were in Texas and I'm still thinking about a near-altercation between two dog owners. I was one...
Calming Signals: They Call Me Mister Dog!!!
Sidney Poitier died this year and I mourn him. I was not the only girl who swooned over him in...
Thanksgiving is for the Dogs.
Here are two of my dogs, Preacher Man and Manning, guarding the back door. You'll notice they are facing the...
A Book Report and What We Know Now.
A bit of explanation: I grew up on a farm without a bookshelf. We were not readers. Once we finally...
Learning to Herd: How Dogs Become Family
I was raised by people who didn’t let dogs in the house. The common opinion was that dogs should live...
Poetry Out Loud: Walking the Dog
Requiem for an Old Truck
req·ui·em/ˈrekwēəm/noun 1.(especially in the Roman Catholic Church) a Mass for the repose of the souls of the dead. There is...
Things My Dogs Don’t Care About.
I'm the kind of person who has big dogs. I always have been, not that my dogs care. I have...
Calming Signals: Sleeping with a Reactive Dog
I don't mind bragging; I've slept with some very fine dogs in the course of my long and...
Calming Signals and Preacher Man: Still “Reactive” After All These Years
Bear with me, please. I miss my dogs, one in particular. I'm in Dunedin, and he's 12,620 km away. It...
Photo & Poem: Corgi Moon
The prairie rings with strange voices, this Wolf Moon is owned by coyotes, less visible by day in dry winter...
Jack the Dog: Calming Signals and Anthropomorphism
Maybe there's a rule that if you have dogs long enough, you eventually end up with a terrier even if...
Photo & Poem: Calendar
Tufting the Corgi Do I need a sweater? The evening air has cooled thinner, the time on the clock doesn’t...
Photo Challenge and Poem: (Her) Favorite Place
There was a message on my phone. My dog was ready to come home, they said. It was just...
Photo Challenge & Poem: (bitter)Sweet
Volcanic walls hedge the black-silver sand all the way to the sea's edge. Waves clap the shore, misty clouds rising...
Sleeping With The Wrong Dog
Warning: This is not an upbeat rescue story. It's a sad story with a sad ending. Proceed with caution. Or...
Photo Challenge: Heritage (with Doghair)
The dog watches me sit at the edge of the bed pulling a frayed t-shirt over my head, shoulders rounded...