It's been a week. Two shockingly unexpected deaths in the family, one human, one canine. Jim and I are fine, but I'm taking a break this week and just focusing on photographs. First, and best, Skip is completely recovered from his surgery and able to work. As is often the case, I used Maggie to bring the sheep up a steep hill full of downed wood and brush, and into the high pasture that we call "The Moors." It's extra tricky work, and I didn't want to ask Skip to do it on his first time out. Here she is moving them into position for Skip. It was nice light, I thought, and was glad I had the iPhone in my pocket to capture it. Skip watched Maggie bringing the sheep from the woods into the pasture. He is remarkably patient, and will even run to the spot on the fence where the leash Read More

I welcomed the onset of winter in November. Summer time is busy for me, too busy on occasion. Dog trialing and gardening come at the same time of the year in the Midwest, and so those hobbies, along with work and all the rest of life, mean the days are still too short, no matter how long the sun is up. When winter starts I revel in the Danish sense of hygge, or a feeling of cozy comfort brought on by sweaters and candles and moonlight on the snow. That was then, this is now. Now there's less comfort, but more desire for green grass and more light and eating on a restaurant's patio. And going outside without putting on an entire suitcase of clothing. Covid, of course, doesn't help, and vaccinations around here look to be far in the future. Thank heavens for dogs, right? We've been Read More

Skip had surgery last Friday to remove his internal testicle (unilaterally cryptorchid), because of its higher probability of causing testicular cancer. (This issue... neutering or the removal of one testicle, is a huge one, and controversial at that. I started to delve into it as part of today's post, but decided to wait for that discussion when life is a bit more, uh, settled. I simply don't have it in me to be who I want to be right now if the discussion heats up. Let's shelve talking about it for a few weeks, but get back to it soon. Promise.) What I want to talk about today are ways to inhibit or stop dogs from causing injury to previous injuries or surgery sites by licking or nibbling. Needless to say, I started a few weeks ago in order to prepare for Skip's surgery. I had no idea Read More

                                (Excuse me, there's a growth on your head. Is it dangerous?) Recently I read an article in Bark Magazine titled "8 Things We Do That Really Confuse Our Dogs." Written by Melissa Starling and Paul McGreevy, (and originally published in The Conversation), the authors lists several points to which I say Hear Hear! (And some I question; read on.) One of my favorites, because it is not intuitive, is #3: We change our shape and smell. I've written often about this in the past, observing over years that dogs don't seem to get the concept of "removable parts." And why would they? They don't decorate their bodies like some animals, nor do they pull on rabbit fur hats if their ears get cold. However, they do make additions to their natural scent, as any owner of Read More

The title of this week's post is from Mary Oliver's perfect question: "What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Here's one answer: Become a Size 4, develop washboard abs, win the National Sheepdog Trials, cook perfect dinners that are perfectly healthy, rescue 1oo homeless dogs, and write a new book that wins the National Book Award. And oh yeah, Save the World. Well, maybe not this year. I've thought about my actual answer to my plans for my one wild and precious life a lot lately. Not surprising, given that life has been sucking us all into a black hole of chaos and crises, and I'm not getting any younger or healthier. It is also true that I live in a little paradise, and am overwhelmed with gratitude that my life is so rich and full of wonderful, Read More