
A few weeks ago I was in the kitchen portioning raw food while one freezer hummed, then another hummed, while three poodles watched me with the kind of focus usually reserved for stock traders monitoring a collapse. Outside, the guinea fowl were again announcing what sounded like the end of civilization. It turned out to…
For years I believed that if I simply worked harder, someone would eventually notice. That good dogs would naturally be valued, that careful breeding would speak for itself, and that if enough evidence existed, people would choose wisdom over convenience. Experience has taught me otherwise. I have watched, little by little, as we surrendered ownership…
One of the most beautiful sights inside the puppy room is not the puppies. It is their mother. Long before I introduce the first bowl of food, she remains their lifeline. Her milk continues nourishing their growing bodies, but motherhood extends far beyond nutrition alone. Every nursing session offers warmth, reassurance, comfort, and quiet lessons…
Yesterday I was standing at my grooming table brushing one of my black Miniature Poodles when my phone buzzed with yet another photograph of what was being advertised as a “rare Merle Poodle,” and I found myself staring at that single word far longer than I expected because something about it simply did not sit…
Many years ago I found myself sitting in Arizona attending a Zoopharmacognosy course taught by Caroline Ingraham, and at the time I had no idea that a single class would permanently change the way I looked at animals interact with herbs. Like many people working with dogs, I had spent years learning nutrition, health, behavior,…
A few weeks ago I found myself standing ringside waiting for the next class while listening to a conversation that has probably taken place at every specialty, dog show, and breed club gathering for longer than most of us have been alive. Concern was being expressed about the lack of mentors entering the sport. Frustration…
Yesterday I was standing in the puppy room watching five black Miniature Poodle puppies who are still far too young to do much of anything except sleep, nurse, and occasionally pile themselves into positions that seem physically impossible. Yet the moment Chianti settled down nearby, those tiny bodies suddenly transformed into determined little missiles. Eyes…
🐾 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…