I wrote a book for vacation. Not a novel. Nope, nothing but nonfiction for me. You see, I left a Great Dane (with a tricky infection) and an old Labrador (on meds four times each day) behind while I scampered to the middle of nowhere and saw Wyoming from atop a horse. It was probably […]
Ren: Temporary Service Pup In-Training
Ren: Temporary Service Pup In-Training So you’re finding out about this little gem right before I have to turn him back over to the service dog organization. We were on a long break from raising service dogs. The older dogs, two of which are now gone, sadly, just didn’t enjoy having a new pup every single […]
Remembering Lily
Remembering Lily Tiger Lily January 16, 2002 – July 7, 2017 It’s taken me some time to write Lily’s obituary post. I don’t know if I’ve been avoiding it because it’s just too hard to write it or if I think it needs to be perfect. But enough is enough. So here goes, imperfections and all… Lily […]
Celebratory Beer for Lunch
Celebratory Beer for Lunch I’m sitting at my desk, drinking a beer (Sam Adams, for my beer friends), and staring a long four-day weekend right in the face. I don’t usually drink beer for lunch. In fact, I don’t usually drink alcohol during the week at all. Today is different. Today is special. Today Tango […]
Living with Old Dogs: Lily’s Cliffhanger
Living with old dogs…it’s an adventure, to put it kindly. A rollercoaster, even. I’ve been sharing more of my old dog stories lately. It’s what my life is like these days. I’m thankful for Schooner because while he’s middle aged (4 is getting up there for some Great Danes), he’s still playful and agile. So my […]
A Decade Ago, This Happened
A decade ago, I left my super-secure, good paying, super benefit providing federal government job. The only real job I’d ever had in my adult life. I was a federal employee for over 18 years. I basically grew up in the government — I started working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) when […]
Tango Update: Cancer, Cancer
It’s been a little crazy around here the last few months with all the cancer talk. I’m getting tired of writing that, actually. Too much crazy, too much roller coaster. We need some boring around here. Some seriously boring boredom. Back in January, Tango had an ultrasound due to some abnormal blood results. (People, heed […]
Loving and Living with Old Dogs
These old dogs. It’s a roller coaster ride daily, this loving and living with old dogs. My life is getting a little closer to normal…for now. I feel like I have to add that qualifier because the whole thing could collapse at any moment. We had a rough month right after Tango’s unplanned splenectomy and […]
When Last We Met…
When last we met, Tango had urgent surgery to remove his spleen and an unwelcome growth on said spleen. Since then, we’ve had very few “up” days and a whole lotta “down” days, including a panicked trip (a week ago now!) to my regular vet and a trip later that same evening to the emergency […]
Personal Life. Business Life. It All Blends Together Sometimes.
Personal life. Business life. It all blends together sometimes. Most readers of the Smart Dog U blog know that I own Smart Dog University, a one-woman dog training business. Like most micro business owners, I do it all: accounting, marketing, admin, teaching, email, blogging, training, well, you get the picture. In addition to the business, […]