‘Dog-eared’ usually means the pages (corners) of a book are bent over and worn from heavy or careless use. I prefer to think of ‘dog-eared’ as meaning you’re a good listener. My dog listens to everything I say with keen interest and is aware of the slightest change of tone or volume which might indicate […]

Special Guest Blog from Janice the Yankee Dog Whisperer I live on Long Island, New York, USA. Our area is particularly affluent; its residents rather spoiled and insulated from the injustices and poverty of the rest of the world. Most people in my area don’t want to know what’s happening outside of their world. ‘Ignorance […]

It might be difficult for some to believe that this lake was once a road. We first started coming to his park almost twenty years ago when it was called Bicentennial Park. It had clearly missed that anniversary as it was largely an uneven wasteland full of rubble and weeds and patches of abandoned fencing […]

Have you ever tried to understand somebody who holds a different point of view than your own? (Of course you have.) Have you ever tried to get inside their head and work out how they think and why they think that way? (Yep, because you give a shit about your fellow man.) Have you ever […]

  You’re curled up asleep next to me again, making those little contented sighs. I’ve always had this effect on my animal companions. I take it as a compliment that they feel safe in my company. You, however,  were the most resistant to my charms. Rescue dogs always take a while to be convinced of […]

I am sustained by the love of a little black dog. After a day in the city of push and shove and road rage I come home to his endless bouncing joy. Boing! Boing! Boing! When I lost my job he lay down next to me on the sofa and comforted me with little licks. […]

I will start with the basket. Your basket. Your place. Your space. We bought it for you when you were a puppy and thought you would never fill it. Six months later when we worried you would never stop growing it was tight. We had intended to throw it away as your chewing reduced the […]

There was mist on my breath the day you came. They had hosed out the cages but the smell of fur, fear and urine lingered in the air. None of us liked the hosing. It left us feeling like hens after the fox has paid a visit. Sophie came to release me and my mood […]

  “Are you hungry? You look hungry.” But do I know that? What do I know about you? In spite of sharing most of every day together for all the best years of your life, I am not certain I know you. We occupy the same space but sense it differently. You live in the […]

I dart my head out over the gate and check up and down the street to see that all is clear. It’s time for Zac’s walk. He’s a rescue dog. He hates dogs, cats, birds, motorbikes and men in visibility vests. We turn right out of the gate and pass Frankie the free range tom […]