Happy 10th Anniversary Champion of My Heart

April 13, 2017, marks the 10th anniversary of Champion of My Heart. No kidding. Our first blog post went live a decade ago. I'd been mulling the idea for

Read More

The Cost of Raising a Puppy

I’m forever amused at the estimates circulated in the media about the costs of having a dog in your family. The annual figures shared by major pet or

Read More

When a Puppy’s UTI Won’t Go Away

Wouldn’t you know it?! We adopted, and our new puppy’s UTI won’t go away. Based on my history with dogs, it seems I’m not allowed to have ones

Read More

The Right Time to Get Another Dog, After One Dies

I’m sure people wonder about our timeline on getting another puppy or dog. We’re not even thinking about looking until spring 2015. I’m announcing this in part to

Read More

Guest Post: Why I Approved 1 Border Collie’s Adoption to 1 Particular Family

Sunday, October 20, 2013, marks the 9th anniversary of Lilly’s adoption. Here is that story through the eyes of the adoption counselor who gave us the green light.

Read More

Celebrating 20 Years – of Marriage, Not Blogging

Today is my 20th wedding anniversary. Indulge me — won’t you — as I wax a little nostalgic? This girl needs to celebrate every tiny thing. And, a

Read More

Conversations of the Heart

Nearly 2 months into this adverse vaccine reaction with Lilly, I’m still a wreck. At least once a day, Lilly and I have a conversation — brain to

Read More

Ocupado – Backstory Behind Champion of My Heart Absence

Lilly and I apologize for the sudden, unexplained absence from blogging these last two weeks. Due to a new and difficult stage in our eldercare responsibilities, we cannot

Read More

Dog Training, Fearful Dogs, and Acceptance

After our one and only dog training class in public this year (over Thanksgiving), Amy from GoPetFriendly.com, pet travel made easy, asked an important question: “As long as

Read More

Dog Training Update: Less Chlomipramine Outcomes

For about 6 weeks now, Lilly’s chlomipramine dose has been just 75 mg ONCE a day (in the morning). We’ve dropped the nighttime dose. I suppose I shouldn’t

Read More