Blog

  • My dog, my mirror

    My dog, my mirror

    Difficult dogs are our biggest teachers – and often they teach us more about ourselves than anything else. One of the reasons I am feeling Nell’s absence in my life so strongly is that she taught me to accept myself as I really am. She was a lot – even many who loved her (including Read more

  • The bittersweet nature of love and loss

    The bittersweet nature of love and loss

    It’s been a month and we miss this lady more than words can say – her absence means our lives are much quieter, and it feels a bit like the balance of our family has been shaken. She was my constant companion for so many years that on some days it feels a part of Read more

  • A love letter to my heart dog

    A love letter to my heart dog

    Nell was lovely, charming and extremely lovable… But if you shared a life with her, she was not an easy dog to love – she was intense, loud, exuberant, demanding, opinionated, short-tempered and persistent. She challenged me year after year to learn more about dogs and how they think because in many ways she the Read more

  • An extraordinary dog

    An extraordinary dog

    With incredible sadness we need to share the news that our beloved Nell unexpectedly and suddenly lost her fight with cancer on Thursday night. We discovered 2 weeks ago that her lymphoma had returned immediately after chemotherapy ended, which was extremely bad news.  We did not want to cut her life too short for our emotional or Read more

  • Toy review: Trixie Cat Activity Board – for dogs!

    Toy review: Trixie Cat Activity Board – for dogs!

    I got one of these cat activity boards to try something new – I’m running out of dog brain games to try 😅 I’m not a fan of the one-trick pony games which are solved a few times and then too easy, and many of them rely on dogs lifting or pulling pieces with their Read more

  • How to think about your dog’s age

    How to think about your dog’s age

    Someone asked about the age of adolescence on a dog related social media group, and after typing up my answer, I thought I’d post about it too. The short answer: It depends on the individual dog and their gender – like in humans. The long answer: Personally, I use a rough benchmark that around 9 Read more