
We are living through a time that seems determined to test people in ways previous generations would recognize immediately, with uncertainty replacing stability, noise replacing wisdom, and a pace of life so relentless that many have forgotten what it feels like to sit quietly long enough to hear their own thoughts, much less recognize the…
A single photo stopped me cold this week: rows of shelter dogs gone, with a caption blaming breeders. For a moment, the explanation felt simple enough. The longer I looked, though, the more I found myself wondering whether I was seeing the whole story or simply its heartbreaking ending. That question sent me down a…
🐾 If you’ve been thinking about adding a dog to the family, but aren’t quite sure what breed fits your lifestyle, let me make a case for the Miniature Poodle. Living here in Tennessee, I know a lot of folks appreciate a good working dog. Border Collies, Aussies, Heelers, bird dogs, farm dogs… they’re smart,…
Tick season has a way of turning a peaceful walk through the woods into a full-body inspection project by the time everyone gets home. Around here, checking ears, armpits, toes, groin folds, collars, and feathering has become just as routine as filling water bowls. The important part is not panic.But the important part is knowing…
Somebody messaged me asking what “protocol” I use for my puppies and I actually laughed a little because at that exact moment I was sitting on the floor beside the whelping box in old sweatpants with goat milk dried on my sleeve, one sock half on, hair looking like I had been electrocuted by the…
Years ago while digging through Juliette’s books, old breeder correspondence, and the kind of material that somehow convinces you that one more page will only take a minute before you look up and realize half the evening has disappeared, I came across a letter from a breeder describing a kennel that, by every modern standard,…
Three boys. Two girls. Five healthy puppies safely arrived, nursing, sleeping, squeaking, and carrying on as though entering the world is the most ordinary thing imaginable while the rest of us stand around completely amazed that nature somehow keeps pulling this off generation after generation. Around three o’clock this morning I was parked on the…
A few evenings ago I found myself doing something that has become entirely too common around here, which is sitting down with the intention of reading a few pages before bed and somehow ending up several hours later surrounded by books, notes, open browser tabs, cold tea, sleeping dogs, and the growing realization that whatever…
Well y’all, I’m sneaking back into the Juliette series. 😆 It’s been one of those weekends filled with overlapping responsibilities, constant interruptions, and the unmistakable feeling that the clock is moving faster than everything on the to-do list. Between preparations for puppies expected to arrive at any moment, breeder responsibilities demanding attention from multiple directions,…
After spending the better part of this week revisiting Juliette’s books, studying old photographs, tracing the historical world that shaped her observations, thinking about constitution, development, preservation, the modern dog, and all the things that seem to have quietly drifted away from canine life while society was busy calling the process progress, I keep finding…