Author Archive
P-town Pup
Our friend Janet has had a Cape Cod vacation condo in Wellfleet for years. And for years she’s encouraged Richard and me to come for a visit while she was there, or to simply go and use her place at our leisure. Somehow, we never managed to take Janet up on her offer before this
Category: Dog
Dog In A Box
With just a couple of exceptions, Willie has slept inside a wire crate every night since “gotcha day”, the day when Richard and I first laid eyes on him at the Spring Valley park and ride following his thousand-mile road trip from Central Louisiana. While he pretty much has the run of our house, the
Category: Dog
Lovin’ from the Oven
Add this to the growing list of things I never imagined myself doing: baking homemade dog treats.
Category: Dog
Bicycle Outlaw
A few days after I received and assembled our new “Doggie Ride” bike trailer, I rigged our bikes onto the van, put the dog trailer inside, and drove with Richard and Willie up to the Ashokan Reservoir. I’d once lived in this area for eight years, with the mountains and water a daily feature in
Category: Dog
Willie’s New Ride
Some months ago Richard and I were in Monterey, walking along Ocean View Boulevard near Point Cabrillo, when we stopped to watch a large colony of sea lions snoozing on a stony beach. We stood about fifty yards from the water’s edge, our fingers hooked into the chain link fence separating us from dozens of
Category: Dog
Dog Toys
Before we even brought him home, our dog, Willie, had a collection of toys we'd purchased in anticipation of his arrival.
Category: Dog accessories
Slippery Slope
“We’re never taking that dog into the bed with us,” Richard said before we even brought Willie home. “He’s never even going to see upstairs,” I added. “There’s just no reason for him to go there. And this way, we can be sure the bedrooms don’t have any dog hair or allergens that might disturb
Category: Dog
Litterbugs
We live in a rural – or at least semi-rural – neighborhood, surrounded by fields and farms and private homes set on large wooded parcels. Our road is not a particularly busy one, though during the course of our half-hour morning or afternoon walk I wave to maybe a dozen or so drivers whom I
Category: Dog
Cat Toys
Each time we bring Willie with us on a visit to the home of our friends Tom and Erik, Willie adopts one of their cat’s toys. “Uh-oh,” I said the first time I saw Willie trotting through the dining room with a catnip mouse in his mouth, “Willie filched one of Fuzzy’s mice.” “That’s okay,”
Category: Dog accessories
The Power of Biscuits
A few weeks after my conversation about dog training with Ann, I brought Willie with me on a writing retreat at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in Rodanthe, North Carolina. One morning at sunrise the two of us left the cottage and walked across the dune to an empty beach where I let him off
Category: Dog