Sorry about the bad movie pun — it’s been a long, though terrific weekend. My first book signing/talk for Am I Boring My Dog, at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, was a great success. Lots of people and their dogs turned up and a good time was had by all. As I noted on Facebook, I…
Celebrating 5770
I’ve been thinking about sacrilege lately, about the repercussions of bucking religious tradition. It’s a bit of a puzzlement because the religion I grew up with, Judaism, doesn’t offer a clearly defined vision of the sinners’ afterlife. The fact that I had to google the term for the Jewish hell, Gehenna, to get a definition…
Cesar’s Way Isn’t the Only Way
I mentioned in my last post that if you ask 10 different people what dog training is, you’ll get 10 different answers. I’d like to revise that statement. I suspect a majority would say dog training is what Cesar Millan does on his National Geographic Channel show, The Dog Whisperer. Earlier this week, a friend…
What is dog training & why do it?
Frankie doesn’t know it yet, but we’re about set out on a new adventure together: Training. And yes, this idea was inspired by his last adventure, being the star of a series of promotional videos for Am I Boring My Dog. It’s not so much that I minded crouching down behind a table with my…
Wyatt Earp’s dog’s lookalike
Forgive me for this post’s title. It’s an in joke, a spin on the perhaps apocryphal story told to me by Arizona historian Jim Turner, who wrote yesterday’s post about Wyatt Earp’s dog. According to Turner, an editor once observed that the most popular topics for readers are the civil war, pets, and medicine, so…
Wyatt Earp’s dog
As you will soon discover, the story I’m posting here today isn’t primarily about Wyatt Earp’s dog; he’s a minor character. But not only is his the only image I have, but the attempt to identify his breed — border collie mix, as it turned out — led to a colorful story about a lookalike…
Contest winners, book reviewers, storytellers
First, the contest. The people have spoken! The final two winners of the What Books Would Bore Your Dog? contest are: Bone Free by Joy Catamson, submitted by Kath Usitalo and Mastering the Art of French Poodles by Julia Styled, submitted by Ellen Perlman. Congratulations, Kath and Ellen! As soon as I have copies of…
Pet Insurance, Part 2: Jasmine’s story
Today I’m turning my blog over to Susanne Fritz, my Aussie pal who takes care of the lovely Jasmine. I’ve introduced Jasmine before; she’s the pup who is “diabetic and loving it.” As I’ve mentioned, with 20-20 hindsight, I wish I had insured Frankie when he was young and before he was diagnosed with diabetes.…
Frankie speaks!
My friend Karyn, greyhound rescuer, foodie, and generally fun person, asked me if she could interview Frankie because he is the inspiration for my new book, Am I Boring My Dog (and because I suspect she often prefers speaking to dogs over speaking to humans). I usually try to shield him from publicity — see…
Health Insurance for Pets? Hell, Yes!
Pet health insurance is one of those topics that pushes buttons with people who think that pets are overindulged — you know, like the executors of Leona Helmsley’s estate who decided that they knew better where her money should go after she died than she did. Human health insurance is a hot button topic these…