We have received a complaint from a cat in England. Rita says she reckons you cannot trust a woman who writes about dogs, with hardly a mention of cats. That tortoiseshell cat has been a critic for years. Rita does it because she wants more from life than sleeping in the sun. I met her … Read more
It felt like a militant act of self care. Like cutting your hair really short or tossing out jeans for their inability to adapt to change. But those things are common to me. This was bigger. I found the life-altering drug that Mister and I needed. There is a puppy. She has a name. But … Read more
I’m not the sort who wakes up in a cheesy rom-com. Even when I was young and my body parts were all in the normal place, I wasn’t rom-com material and I surely am not now. But somehow, there I was, blindly stumbling toward what the youngsters call a “meet-cute.” I was the last know, … Read more
My horse sister called to ask how I was. It wasn’t small talk. We tell each other the truth and it took a beat to answer. There were so many parts. “I’m exhausted,” I said. “It’s been such a hard year.” “Anna, it’s only April,” she said. And we both chuckled and quickly slid into … Read more
Dogs. We rescue them, buy them, inherit them. They are irrepressible puppies, midlife couch-partners or milky-eyed elders with wonky ears. They come from puppy mills, rescues, or impeccable breeders. No matter, once the dog is ours, they immediately become the smartest dog, the cutest dog, the most loyal dog. Every single one of them is … Read more
Do you follow the Iditarod, too? Northern breeds are such athletes with their instincts on full display. These half-wild dogs are perfect. They get to run with their pack. Then they stop and all lie down to rest. They eat better than most of our dogs. And then, with very little steering, they run some … Read more
Meet my dogs, Preacher Man, Mister, and Jack. They’re in the doorway to my writing studio. It’s Thanksgiving night, which is always on a Thursday. So, for the last thirteen years, every Thanksgiving evening (and every other Thursday night) we meet here to write my blog. It’s usually the All-Horse Channel, as I share what … Read more
It’s before dawn on a Friday morning and I’m in an RV park in Amarillo, Texas. I’ve been mud-wrestling with a cold for a couple of weeks now, but I’ll make it home tonight. I can hear a train whistle close by, some eighteen-wheelers getting an early start, and my dog snoring, belly-up in … Read more
Here are two of my dogs, Preacher Man and Mister, guarding the back door. You’ll notice they are facing the wrong way. It’s not about who might come in; it’s about making sure SHE doesn’t get out. “Herding dogs,” my other dog, Jack moans, “have a little too much space between the ears.” He is … Read more
I was raised by people who didn’t let dogs in the house. The common opinion was that dogs should live outside or in the barn. On our sheep farm, there was a hard line between us and the animals we depended on for a living. But my mother insisted I spend the day outside with … Read more