Home of "Call Me Friend" podcast
I certainly didn’t want to be the one to tell him. When a friend came home with his adorable gray fur ball of fun seven years ago, I did all the things a fellow dog lover does to welcome a new pet lover into our tribe. Well, almost all the things. Deliver a basket full of puppy toys: check. Coo, snuggle, and make a big deal over that pink puppy belly: check. Offer up my
Can we save them from dangerous choices? I knew it was a dangerous thought as soon as it popped into head. “What will I write about this week? Not much has happened.” This is always, without fail, when something happens. Something big. Trouble ahead It was Sunday evening. The sun was setting, tucking in a quiet weekend. Husband down in the yard working out on his weight bench. Pup by his side. Until
“Moose” is a mental health therapy dog and cancer survivor One awesome therapy dog “Moose” is one awesome therapy dog who is getting big honors from Virginia Tech. He’s worked at Virginia Tech’s Cook Counseling Center since 2014. Moose has been in more than 7,500 counseling sessions, making him one awesome mental health advocate. Overcoming obstacles He’s had some challenges of his own. Earlier this year, doctors diagnosed Moose with prostate cancer. He’s made it through aggressive rounds of chemotherapy
You make the call about dog on the couch-Yes or No? I’ve started shopping for one of those DNA kits. For my husband. The need is rather urgent. For it’s become rather obvious, He is not the man I married. You might remember THAT guy, Dear Reader. An unlikely marriage The one who was such an animal-unlover that he seriously considered not marrying pet-crazy me. The one who insisted we go to pre-marital
The fur was flying. With good reason. I caught a recent online segment of “Good Morning Britain.” Call it mindless internet surfing. I call it, “research.” For this column. Yeah, I’m going with that. Can you say this about your beloved dog? I’m watched this segment, shaking my head, thinking, “Did they really go there?” A commentator daring to say the unsayable. About a dog’s love. That he can’t. Your dog can’t love you back. At least not in the
My dog got me a husband by taking matters into her own paws The numbers didn’t add up. Not to this dog lover. 86%. That’s how many people say they would break up with someone who doesn’t like their dog. This would never be me “How ridiculous,” I thought as I looked at the research from a dog walking company called, “Wag!” “Who would even consider dating someone who didn’t like their dog?” That’s about
Because this is not the way I thought we would be expanding our family. I would’ve told you our family was complete. Family Planning 101. Husband, me, Two girls, now both away at college. And the cliché empty nest puppy. Husband apparently had other ideas. He took matters into his own hands this week, walking in the house with our new bundle of joy. The one I didn’t know we needed. “I got us a robot!” he announced in th
Leave it to me to ruin Facebook. Granted, your high school frenemy’s unending photos of her perfect children, the Russians, and your Cousin Allen’s hysterical political posts made the first big push. I, now, have finished it off. With the help of my naughty dog. There was one wonderful, happy place left on the place that has become a social media cesspool. Was, being the key word. Not long after Husband and I adopted our crazy blue tick coonhound-beagle-dachshund mutt,
An opportunity has been missed. In this Graduation Season I see a long list of celebrities, politicians, and business giants asked to give commencement speeches. I watch. Looking to be impressed. Instead, I’m left with the feeling that once you get past the famous name, there’s often something missing. The feeling that, well, My dog could do better. So, graduates of the Class of 2018, let me fill in the blanks where perhaps your commencement speaker left you wanting. I
It’s one of the earliest memories of my horrifying my kids. Earliest. Not the last. I am, after all, A mother. A conversation about fire safety started this particular episode. We started with something like, “How would you get out of the house in an emergency?” Once I was satisfied with their proposed plans, I shifted to the philosophical. “What is the one thing you would want to save?” I asked. The girls made me go first. Which was easy, because
