Your Earlobes Aren’t Worried – A Tip From the Anxiety Trenches
I promise the silly title is worth it. You see, I'm increasingly amped up about a number of real-life things, but I recently developed a new coping mechanism for worry.
Category Archives: Dog Musings
Neutropenia in Dogs – A Clover Mystery
Neutropenia in dogs - Our saga with Clover's weird white blood cell counts continues, so we saw a board-certified veterinary internal medicine specialist (the same one who helped us with Clover's non-stop UTIs as a…
Dog Birthday Party Clover’s Big 03
Saturday, May 27, is Clover's third birthday. Already! So how is a Dog Mom supposed to celebrate our amazing birthday dog? With dog birthday party cupcakes, an exciting new present (woot!), and with another dog…
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 a while, and on a bit…
Dog Blood Work Why Do It on Young and Healthy Dogs
Question: Why would you routinely do dog blood work on young and seemingly healthy dogs? Answer: Because sometimes you find things and can catch them before the medical issue gets worse. This appears to be…
Strength and Flexibility Therapy for an Agility Dog
In the last 9 months or so, we've seen a couple things in Clover's body that we wanted to address right away. We're doing physical therapy or canine rehabilitation (under the direction of our rehab…
Dog Etiquette – What to Say (and NOT Say) When You’ve Hit a Dog With Your Car
Yes, I feel a bit of a RANT coming on. Let's call this Dead Dog Etiquette 101. Our rural mountain community features a not-very-efficient email distribution system when neighbors have news to share or questions…
Where We Are Now in Raising and Training the Puppy-Girls
Everything is a bit of a blur when you're raising two puppies at the same time, especially two border collie puppies who are just 13 months apart. In the ideal world, I would have had…
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 veterinary organizations always feel WAY TOO LOW.…
Happy Gotcha Day to the Best Puppy on the Planet, Clover Lee Hawn
Sunday, September 13, we'll celebrate the first anniversary of Clover's adoption from Blue Ridge Border Collie Rescue. It took fate and many major feats to get her from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to…
A Newbie’s Guide to Puberty in a Female Dog
Prior to Clover, the female dogs in my life got spayed early -- before or after adoption. That means I didn't really know what I was getting into when we decided to allow Clover to…
Comparing Dogs – How Clover is Like and Totally NOT Like Lilly
Busy with book stuff. Happy to say I found a solution to my cover image problem. Now, I just need to decide between 2 spectacular cover designs. Harder than I thought it would be. Stay…
When a Puppy’s UTI Won’t Go Away
Based on my history with dogs, it seems I'm not allowed to have ones that are 100% healthy on arrival. So, when we got the call a week before Clover's anticipated flight to Colorado telling…
Dog News Roundup – Jealousy, Telling Time, Sniffing Bottoms, and Black Dog Adoptions
Many of you probably see dog news items like this come across your social media newsfeed. Still, I thought it might be helpful to gather a few in one place (with a comment or two…
Dog Adoption Discussion – Knowing What You Want
Have you given modern dog adoption processes much thought lately? I wonder what has changed since we adopted Lilly in October 2004. I am curious about one thing in particular.
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 keep well-meaning folks from sending me links…
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. On a sunny October day in 2004,…
Meme Mood Monday
I've been in a meme-making mood lately. Most of these went straight to our Champion of My Heart Facebook Fan Page. In many cases, the messages take root in things I, myself, needed to hear.
Dog Event Review: Art on the Brix Paint Your Pet Night
Evenings out are rare. Last Saturday, however, date night consisted of wine, tapas, and a painting class at Art on the Brix in downtown Golden, Colorado. So. Much. Fun. The results? Well ... see for…
2012 – The Year the Month of May Went Missing
More than likely we won't remember much about May 2012 except for grief and heartache. The finer details? The day-to-day moments? Lost in an exhausted and emotional fog. Amid the ongoing mourning, I wanted to…
Old Dog Maintenance – Ginko’s Turn
In about a month, Ginko will be 12. He recently had a thorough exam, senior blood work, and vaccinations (3-year rabies, 1-year lepto). And, this week ... he went in to have his teeth "done."…
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 big one now and then too.
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 brain, heart to heart -- that goes…
Recovery from Meningoencephalomyelitis – Finally Some Good News
As of 12:30 pm or so mountain time, Saturday, February 4, 2012, Lilly had been seizure free since around 4:30 pm Friday (2/3). I'm happy to report a few other pieces of good news ...…
Lilly Update from Friday, Feb 3, 2012
A massive snowstorm kept us pinned on the mountain Friday. We had about 20 inches of snow when we awoke, and the local weather folks are saying we might get another 20 inches of snow…