The reason I initially created a dog blog was to establish my expertise as the author of a book about dogs. It soon became clear that, although fun, being a dog fashion correspondent might not be the best route to that goal. So I began writing about more substantive topics and, as the publication date…
I heart Dog Star Daily
And Dog Star Daily hearts me — or at least my book — back. Co-created by the renowned Dr. Ian Dunbar and Kelly Gorman Dunbar, the site is home to some of the world’s top dog training and behavior experts, including Dr. Nicholas Dodman, Patricia McConnell, and Suzanne Clothier, as well as such up-and-comers (and,…
And the contest winner is…
This was tough. Really tough. I was wowed by the thoroughness of many of the comments — not to mention the graciousness of all of them. Not a single person said anything mean about me or Frankie that I had to remove. In fact, you were all wonderfully encouraging about my writing (Frankie’s adorableness was…
I’m the answer to Cesar Millan? Why, thanks!
[originally posted November 27th, 2009] It’s Black Friday, and in the spirit of unbridled commerce, I figured I’d shamelessly promote my new book, Am I Boring My Dog? Why buy a copy, you ask? Because you will be showing your advocacy for positive, dog friendly training and learning how to keep adopted dogs from being…
Werewolves, Whisperers, and Mensches
[originally posted November 6, 2009] Far be it from me to suggest I don’t love plain old good reviews of Am I Boring My Dog; I do. But sometimes a write up comes along that teaches me something new about what I wrote, putting it into a larger context that hadn’t occurred to me. That…
Rabbiting around
My mother always told me to keep a low profile, not to put myself forward. (Why she believed that is a whole other story that I won’t go into here. Like my blog subtitle says, this is a “guilt free zone.”) That might be good advice for social occasions — everyone loves a good listener…
Meet my latest book reviewer: What a dog!
I’m afraid I don’t have time right now to get into a thorough discussion of how — and under what circumstances — dog is a pejorative term. I trust that everyone who reads this blog is aware that, ignoring any linguistic conventions, I consider being compared to a canine the ultimate compliment. So I was…
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…
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…
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…