Author: Roxanne Hawn

Trained as a traditional journalist and based in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA, I'm a full-time freelance writer for magazines, websites, and private clients. My areas of specialty include everything in the lifestyles arena, including health and home, personal finance and other consumer interests, relationships and trends, people and business profiles ... and, of course, all things pet related. I don't just love dogs. I need them in my life. Seriously.

Dog Photo | Musings

More Neighborhood Canine Visitors

At times, in the winter months, our solar-powered gate opener poops out. Sometimes, there isn’t enough sun to charge it. Sometimes, the bitter cold drains the battery. That means on very rare occasions it’s left open, which means the dogs are stuck inside. On such a day recently, I was busy working in my office … when two dogs ran past my window. I knew mine where in, so even though one dog was clearly black and white, the sight didn’t throw me too much. Indeed, it was Riley (a bc) and Kenai (a husky, possibly husky mix) running past. …

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Entirely Off Topic

Christmas Cookie Recipes (wine cookies, pizzelles)

Fellow writer and blogger, Charmian Christie over at Christie’s Corner (a food blog) recently posted a great ginger cookie recipe. She wondered aloud about holiday cookies we cannot live without. My answer? Wine cookies and pizzelles. It’s snowy and very cold (below zero) here today. It’s a perfect chance to make cookies. So, here’s a little lesson on how to make a couple traditional Italian cookies. Full credit to my great grandmother, my grandmother, my mother and my aunties who taught me to cook. …

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Dog Training Update | Dogs on Drugs

Weekly Training Update (Dec 12)

Due to weather constraints and limited availability of dogs as training partners, much of Lilly’s work is being done in public. In a typical week, I only go to town once, so I’ve begun (again) taking Lilly with me when I run errands. We, then, take a walk on a popular trail and sometimes through downtown Golden as our training ground and as her reward for tagging along. We often have runners pass us or come up from behind. The same with bikes. We also see a fair number of dogs (both on and off leash) and many …

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Musings

Sneak Attack

Sometimes when I write, which is my honest-to-goodness career, the real world recedes and I live entirely in my head. The only sounds I hear all day long are my thoughts and the keyboard. Every hour or two, I shake myself out of this work-focused stupor to get a snack or whatever. Last week, I shuffled into the master bedroom in search of a tissue. Lilly, who apparently had been waiting for me to rouse, ambushed me with a high-flying kissing fit. …

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Musings

Is that a pitchfork in my *butt, or …

After a prolonged autumn, winter has come to the Rocky Mountains. More often than not recently, it’s cold, snowing, and (worst of all) windy. Last Friday, I performed an accidental science experiment that pits 40-year-old writer who sits all day against wind chills well below zero. Perhaps the gusty conditions upset Lilly, which we learned last summer can freak out fearful dogs. Perhaps she’s already tired of being cooped up for winter. Either way, she was fussy — whining, squeaking, pacing. I finally relented, bundled up, and headed outside to play ball around 4 pm, just …

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Dog Training Update | Dogs on Drugs

Weekly Training Update (Dec 5)

Until last week, Lilly and I had not gone to a group class since June 22. That’s 5 long months of slogging through our behavior modification work alone. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, however, I had major turkey on the brain, so we braved the drive to Boulder and joined some long-time compatriots for a group class/hike. Here’s how it went. …

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Musings

Canine Relativity Theories and Opinions

Fellow blogger Patty Khuly over at Dolittler garnered a slew of comments recently when she wrote about tail docking and ear cropping. Her post about an anti-tethering ordinance also got my attention. It made me realize that all of us dog lovers exist in a spectrum of good & better, bad & worse. Sometimes, it’s clear that even the well-educated, much-experienced among us have the occasional contradictory opinion. …

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Dog Photo | Musings

Meet Cone Dog: A Retrospective

We found the little treasure below while digging around in search of something else last week. Tom’s dad (the late, great Ivan) tucked it away for us. For a million and one reasons, it made me cry. Here is the tale of Spike (aka The Cone Dog), who was Tom’s best friend when we met all these years ago. …

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Dog Training Update | Dogs on Drugs

Weekly Training Update (Nov 28)

Last week, I finally got brave enough to email neighbors/friends to ask them to play the “stranger” in Lilly’s people desensitization work. As I’ve mentioned before, this is particularly tough due to our somewhat remote location. Of the 16 people I asked, 4 people volunteered and even scheduled an encounter right away. So, first of all, our most sincere THANKS to Sheila, Heather and Patrick, and Carol. Here’s how it went:
…

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Musings

Fess Up

Keeping with the holiday tradition of people asking VERY personal things in a group setting, I thought we’d do a little experiment in true confessions. Entertain me (and others) with your answers to these dog care, dog training, and dog teasing questions. To get things started, I included my own answers: …

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