No. You didn’t miss an election. In addition to being the Champion of My Heart, I’ve also decided to embrace Lilly’s latest role as the Mayor of Shutdown Town. And as her chief of
staff, it’s my job to pay attention to her cues, not mine. …
It intrigues me that when people see Lilly and I training in public they invariably ask, “How old is she?” They assume Lilly is a pup. I
quickly dispel the myth that training is a limited-time endeavor for us, but I often also see people watching us struggle — when something scares Lilly, and I’m helping her work through it or
at least move on without hurting herself in an attempt to flee. (On the off chance the lady near the BBQ behind the Golden Hotel is reading this, it was the BBQ lid slamming. That’s what scared
…
I’ve written a fair amount about canine nutrition in my career. I even went to a weekend-long international conference a few years ago with a couple hundred specialists in dog
allergies. I learned a ton about the role of the digestive system in causing and treating allergies from contact, inhaled or eaten sources. I like to think I’m fairly versed in what’s good about dog
foods. …
We haven’t worked with Pitsch, Lilly’s “Control Unleashed” training buddy for a couple months because he and his mom Betsy were busy trialing. Gotta say, he’s been on FIRE. We’re
waiting for the official list, but it looks like Pitsch cracked the list of top 25 Aussies. We’re hoping to see his name in the top 10. How neat is that? … said the girl with the dog who won’t get
up off the ground.
…
Since learning the Look at That game, where Lilly is rewarded for looking at various things (even “scary” ones), she’s tried teaching a version of it to Tom. The results crack me up.
…
As I’ve said before, it’s likely going to be a LONG time before I consider getting another dog, but just like I collect name ideas, I’m starting to collect characteristics and/or
personality traits that I’d hope my next dog has. It’s a work in progress, of course, but here’s what I have so far: …
As promised for our second year of blogging, I’m trying very hard to shoot more videos to share. So, for future comparison’s sake. Here are some baseline videos of Lilly at play —
both alone and with Ginko.
…
I’m beginning to think (or at least hope) that 2008 will be a breakthrough year. In what form I’ve yet to discern, but after Lilly’s birthday last week, a bit of a numerology thing
struck me. Don’t laugh. Sometimes a girl needs to grab hope anywhere she can. …
We’re approaching the fourth anniversary of my first dog’s death, and it still catches me off-guard. While cleaning off some old patio furniture cushions the other day, Tom found a bevy
of Penelope’s white hair in the creases. And, it totally made me cry. …
OK. So, it’s not like it matters to me really. However, Lilly and I are sans schwag, completely without. Our invitation to take part in that videotaped interview recently included a
promise of stuff. That’s totally NOT why we did it. But, it was promised and not delivered, which I find a bit amusing considering how such media machinations typically work. …
