How to Get your Dog to Come to You

(re-run) On a hike the other day, there were four small dogs with fifteen or more people. One person was saying how hard it was to get his one-year-old dog to come to him. I remembered back to one of the many dog training sessions I’ve attended in my life – training Tess, the spaniel/heeler,… Continue reading How to Get your Dog to Come to You

When your Dog Wants to Kill your Friend’s Dog

I invited my friend to my beach house, and she asked to bring her twelve-pound rescue dog. I was hesitant to answer. I wondered how it would work out with my two bigger dogs. Pepper, a mellow lab mix, would be fine. The wild card was Daisy, the twenty-pound Jack Russell terrier. Daisy is a… Continue reading When your Dog Wants to Kill your Friend’s Dog

My Inherited Dog, Boomer

(re-run) Boomer was never my dog, although he came into my care when I married his owner.  I’m not sure how old he was when I met him. My dog, Tess, was two and Boomer was older. A small, part Beagle-part terrier, Boomer had not had a regular dog’s life. He had never eaten dog… Continue reading My Inherited Dog, Boomer

Kuma, the Teddy-bear Akita

(re-run) Beth’s husband had two Akitas.  She wanted to get one for their six-year-old son.  She got Lee a puppy and named him Kuma, which is Japanese for Bear. The two older dogs kept attacking the puppy.  The marriage wasn’t going well, either. Beth and her son moved out and got their own place and… Continue reading Kuma, the Teddy-bear Akita

A Great Dane Story

(re-run) When I was almost thirteen, I hung out at my neighbor Bonnie’s house, just one block away from mine, but it was different world.  Both her parents worked full time, so we teens could hang there with no parental supervision. We were supervised, though, by the family’s Great Danes. I remember three dogs, but… Continue reading A Great Dane Story

Murray, the Naughty Lab

(re-run) Mary was a hair dresser and agreed to dog-and-house sit while one of her clients went to Cancun for a week. She was in charge of a ninety-pound chocolate lab named Murray. Cindy instructed Mary to walk Murray a couple times a day since he was only one and still had puppy energy. She… Continue reading Murray, the Naughty Lab

Daydreaming on a Dog Walk

(re-run) I get some of my best writing ideas while walking my dogs. My brain is free to think while my body is exercising. I am not listening to music or staring into my phone. I am enjoying the view. Today I walked Pepper, my almost four-year-old lab, while Daisy stayed home where she feels… Continue reading Daydreaming on a Dog Walk

My Inherited Dog, Boomer

(re-run) Boomer was never my dog, although he came into my care when I married his owner.  I’m not sure how old he was when I got him. My dog, Tess, was two and Boomer was older. A small, part-Beagle, part terrier, Boomer hadn’t had a regular dog’s life. He had never eaten dog food… Continue reading My Inherited Dog, Boomer

How to Get your Dog to Come to You

On a hike the other day, there were four small dogs with 15 or more people. One person was saying how hard it was to get his one-year-old dog to come to him. I remembered back to one of the many dog training sessions I’ve attended in my life – training Tess, the spaniel/heeler, Penny,… Continue reading How to Get your Dog to Come to You