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.

  • I Spy

    While freshening up before going to book club on Sunday, I noticed that Lilly sat mesmerized by something outside the master bedroom window. It’s usually a bunny or something, but yesterday … she sat perfectly still for the longest time. I’ve always loved the concentration on her face. It’s a quiet intensity, with just a hint of excitement rumbling under her skin. …

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    Weekly Training Update (Sept 5)

    This week was all about Lilly getting her strength back, following the rattlesnake
    bite     Saturday. I asked nothing of her. The good news is that she doesn’t seem to have carried any hospitalization anxiety home. She has not seemed fearful or upset all week. Granted, she
    clearly doesn’t feel well, but she doesn’t seem freaked out or anything. Then, again, I did not challenge her with any noises or actions a la our behavior modification plan. I do wonder, however,
    if me breaking some of the rules might mess things up. …

  • Lilly on the Mend (barely)

    If I had to guess, I’d say Lilly hovers around 20% of normal after Saturday night’s rattlesnake bite and ensuing medical intervention. It’s hard to say how much of her lagging energy comes from the injury itself and how much comes from all the medicines she’s taking. She’s allowed very limited freedom outside a few minutes at a time, and even that tires her out. So, I know she does not feel well at all. …

  • Lilly vs. Rattlesnake (part 3)

    The hospital released Lilly last night around 6 pm. She came home and promptly sacked out. We can tell that she still does not feel great, but she looks much better —- just a bit of swelling in her lip, along with her puffy, sagging neck. They sent her home with Rimadyl (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory), Tramadol (pain control), and Cephalexin (antibiotic). So, along with her anxiety meds, she’s taking 5 different medicines twice a day. Poor sweetie.
    …

  • Lilly vs. Rattlesnake (part 1)

    Saturday afternoon (8/30) around 4:30 – 5:00 pm, it seems Lilly got a rattlesnake bite right in the face. Tom and I were both outside most of the day. We did not see anything. We did not hear anything – no rattling, no barking, no cries of pain, no urgent need for comfort. Just all of a sudden she seemed to have a fat lip. We assumed it was a bee sting, until an hour later when the swelling had spread to nearly the whole side of her head. Here are more details and some photos. …

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    Shelter Shopping

    While putting together our evacuation plan, I needed to look up some phone numbers of local shelters. As I clicked around, I realized that one of them uses old-fashioned, dominance-based, often inhumane strategies to train shelter dogs. Apparently, they offer classes in this method to community members. They even claim that issues like fear, aggression, and such are quickly and easily solved using these methods. I FELT SICK. I’ve always known that all shelters, humane societies, rescue groups, or whatever are NOT created equal, but this came as a tremendous shock to me. …