Darling, Mercy Dog of World War 1

I just finished reading a great book for dog lovers - young and old - Darling, Mercy Dog of World War 1. One of a series of new books from Peachtree Publishers called Dog Chronicles, this one sheds light on service dogs used during the First World War. Written by Alison Hart, author of numerous books for children and teens, it is perfectly suited for upper elementary, as well as older readers.

Told from the dog's point of view, we follow Darling from her family life in England to the trenches of war in France and Belgium. Just as the book (and movie) War Horse informed us of the plight of so many horses during this horrific war, this book shows another group of animals who were also useful. Personally, although I'm a huge dog and animal lover, I was largely unaware of dogs being used for messengers, scouts and mercy dogs during this time period.

Here's a short summary:

At home in England, Darling is a mischievous but much loved pet to Robert and Katherine. But when the British military asks families to volunteer their dogs to help the war effort, they send Darling off to be trained, even though it is very hard to say goodbye. Darling goes through training along with many other dogs and is ultimately used as a mercy dog, seeking out injured soldiers on the battlefield and leading the medics to them. After saving the lives of numerous soldiers, Darling is faced with a major challenge.

What I liked about this book: I learned something new. Mercy dogs were taught to go quietly through the battlefields, amidst the noise and chaos, to search for injured and wounded soldiers. Then they would return to seek help.

It has some great interior illustrations from Michael G. Montgomery, which lend an element of understanding to the text.

I also liked that although the horrors of war are touched upon, they are not dwelt on excessively in this book, making it (in my opinion) suitable for children. The story is mostly about what the dog Darling goes through in her ordeals, the human connections she makes along the way, and *Spoiler Alert* it has a happy (although not perfect) ending, which is one reason I am recommending it. And yes, I did shed a tear or two at the end. It got to me.

For more on Alison Hart and her numerous other books, please visit her website: http://www.alisonhartbooks.com/

Darling, Mercy Dog of World War 1 is available in hardback from your local independent bookstore, or from online retailers. It's definitely one to put on your Christmas list for young dog or animal lovers.

Writing as Therapy

A young dog that I loved very much was killed in the road out front, shortly before Christmas. I assume she was hit by a car, because I found her in the ditch. I've been having a really difficult time dealing with this event. I sobbed my eyes out, we buried her, and the next day was the tragedy at Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Now there is something that is REALLY sad. And indeed, it truly was.

And soon it was Christmas, with company coming and presents to wrap. Not to mention we are in the middle of a possible sale of our house, and buying another. All of this wrapped into a big package called Busy, Busy, Busy and no time to grieve poor Jessie.

So I find myself in a new year, 2013, swiping tears from my eyes at odd moments, and sobbing my eyes out in the dark of night. And I realized I need to write about this dog, who gave me so much joy and pleasure, and whom I loved deeply and fully.

So I've been writing. Trying to document every moment that I lived with this goofy, fun-loving, affectionate dog. Will I publish it? Will it become part of another novel someday? Who knows?

But at this point, writing is helping me find my way through my grief over the loss of my Jessie. Do we have another dog? You betcha. We have a ten-year-old lab mix, who is the Best Dog in the World. We are bringing him in the house and treating him like gold now, because he is.

But writing about Jessie is helping me not only deal with my sadness over her loss, but I feel like it's honoring her memory.

Have any of you found that writing is a way to deal with pain or grief? Let me know.

Oh, and Happy New Year! I'm looking forward to big changes in 2013, and wishing the best for everyone.

Hug your dog for me. And your kids.

Animal Records - A Simple Method

Since many of you that read this blog are Animal Lovers like me, I thought I'd pass on a tip that might help you keep track of their health.

Records. If you are like many people, you jot on your calendar, day runner (or maybe on your smart phone) when your dog/cat/horse/parakeet needs its shots/wormer/flea treatment/etc.

Or, maybe these dates get lost in the daily shuffle of things, and you sit around scratching your head, mumbling "When was it that Frodo got his last vaccination?"

Maybe because I'm a writer, I like to actually Write Things Down. Ha!

Maybe I'm super-organized. Not!

Maybe I've just had lots of pets/livestock over the years, and sometimes it gets really hard to remember.

So I've came up with a really simple system to keep track of everyone.

First, whenever we welcome a new animal into our family, I make a folder for them, which I keep in my file cabinet. Then, I make a little chart to go inside. At the top, it lists Name/Age/When We brought them Home. (We've had Frodo for 6 years? Really?)

I take a clean piece of paper - like this:

You can do this yourself in about 30 seconds, and mark your columns however you like:

Vaccinations/Worming/Shoeing-Trimming for a horse or donkey.

Vaccinations/Worming/Flea Treatments for a cat or dog.

Or whatever works for you and your animals. Yes, if you take them to the vet, the vet writes this stuff down (and sometimes sends you reminders.) But because I do a lot of these things myself, I like to remember when Frodo had his last treatment/shot/etc.

Hope this helps some of you take good care of your animals!

Kisses to all of your horses, cats, dogs, or parakeets (actually, I've never had a parakeet, do they get shots?)

No Dogs on the Cover?

Animals are a huge part of my life, and they always seem to show up in my novels. Wild horses, lost dogs, orange cats, rescue horses, therapy dogs - oh wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. I've been chewing on cover details for a novel that's coming out in September called Walking the Dog. And I realize that although my books often contain the human-animal bond as a theme, and all have dogs as part of the plot, none (so far) have a dog on the cover.

The Girl Who Remembered Horses is filled with dogs, and they play important roles - from pulling loads, to helping hunters track game, to companionship.

Six Degrees of Lost (which releases June 1, 2012) contains lots of dogs, too, and one of them plays a big part in how the two main characters, Olive and David, meet. But I talked in this post called The Making of a Cover about why we didn't choose a dog as part of the artwork.

The Horse Jar is about one girl's quest for a horse of her own, but one of the main characters is a wire-haired dachshund named Spunky. Dog on the cover? No.

Even my very first novel, Finding Chance (in which the main character finds a starving dog) has no dog on the cover.

Which leaves me to my present musings: Should we make it five in a row? Or should a book called Walking the Dog definitely have a dog on the cover?

What makes you pick up a book? Thoughts?

Good Dogs, Bad Dogs

I was really going to write a post about how well our young dog Penny was doing. She is a border collie cross, and not an easy dog to live with, and in fact got on my every last nerve from the time she was six months old until just recently.

Hoping to become a better dog mother, I read everything I could about border collies. They are the smartest of breeds, they need a job, they bond with their owners, and they need lots of exercise. Exercise, exercise, exercise is what all the books said.

So I laced up my walking shoes, and took her and the old dog out on forest trails and logging roads every single day. I'd load them up in the car and take them to a nearby paved subdivision with a good hill to climb. I played ball, frisbee, bought her bones to chew on, and squeak toys, and even a non-destructible rubber ball with biscuits hidden inside.

And still Penny dug up the yard, pulled prize azaleas from the soil, destroyed rhododendrons, ripped fern fronds off one by one, and pulled the stuffing out of every single dog bed we bought her.

We made a joke out of her name, that she was the Bad Penny and we couldn't get rid of her if we tried.

My husband was fed up, and truthfully, as winter wore on, I was getting tired of defending her with the refrain "She's just a pup. She'll grow out of this stage."

At one point, several weeks ago, I even decided maybe we should find her another home. But I loved this dog, and didn't want to pass her down to someone who might treat her badly. I answered a couple of ads that I found on Craigs List with people looking for such a dog, but it wasn't the right match. I sent a long e-mail to a border collie rescue agency that specializes in placing such dogs. I never heard back. Finally, in desperation on a stormy winter night, when this jumpy, wet dog, who never seemed to calm down, was wreaking havoc on our normally peaceful marriage, I picked up the phone to place an ad in our local newspaper.

No dial tone. The phone was completely dead, and the telephone service was out.

It was a sign, I decided. No wavering. We are keeping the darn dog, making the best of the situation, and sooner or later she will turn the corner. I called a local dog trainer and signed Penny up for a dog class, thinking maybe a little socialization would help.

At the first lesson, we almost got kicked out, after Penny drug me across the arena toward a shepherd mix who growled and lunged at her. "You want a piece of me?" she said. "Come and get it!" Geez, talk about embarrassing.

Luckily for both of us, the instructor decided to put that errant shepherd in a "special" class, and Penny got lots of one-on-one attention at her second class. She did beautifully! She heeled, and sat, and every time she came unglued a bit, her teacher said she was only insecure. I can live with that.

Finally, we are making progress. Penny is 15 months old now, and I convinced my husband she is well on her way to finally becoming a good dog. She doesn't jump on people so much, her digging is less often, and surely her need to chew and destroy things must be over. A local feed store had pet beds on sale, and bless his heart, when my husband went to town, he not only bought two of them (one for each dog) but he made Penny her own little wooden box for the bed to go in.

 I breathed a giant sigh of relief, both for Penny and for our marriage. Things were turning out peachy-keen.

Until this morning. I fed the dogs, came in the house to check my e-mail, and inside of ten minutes, this has happened:

That was two hours ago. I scolded her (quite) strongly, locked her up in the dog pen for almost an hour, and came in to face my husband's wrath.

Penny is now in the dog pen again. She just destroyed the second bed (her own.)

I have no words, although it does help to have a sense of humor about these things. Maybe we can get on a television show called - Is there hope for this dog? or Is there hope for this marriage? Peace - out.

The Case of the Missing Collar

As some of you may remember, we own the Best Dog in the World.

His name is Homer.


And because we love Homer so much, we thought he was lonely, so we got him a friend.

Now this new dog is a Work-in-Progress, and we are at the moment going through a round of


Difficult Edits.

Her name is Penny.

Ah, she was such an adorable puppy. But her teenage months were filled with digging, chewing, destroying, acting out and generally being hard to live with. Like most teenagers.

She is getting better. Slowly. But she still has one annoying habit we haven't been able to break her of.

She takes Homer's collar off. In their daily wrestling matches, she grabs hold of his collar and tugs it right off his head.

And of course, then I have to find it, because a dog can't go around without his collar and identification tags, right?

Well, one day, I could not find Homer's black collar. But it was old anyway, and the tags were hard to read, so after a day or two of searching Every. Square. Inch. of the yard (did she bury it?) I broke down and bought Homer a Brand New Blue Collar. Like this:

and I sprung for some new tags with Homer's name on them, and he looked spiffy. Almost like a young dog again. Plus, we'd be able to find this collar easily if Penny took it off his head.

So, of course, after I spent close to twenty dollars on a new collar for Homer, guess what mysteriously turns up on the concrete right outside of our garage?

Yes. You are correct. The old black collar was suddenly lying on the concrete, right there in plain sight.

Great, I thought (not quite understanding how it got there.) But I put it in the cupboard to use for a spare, in case the new blue collar mysteriously disappeared. Which it did, the very next day!!

So I put the old black collar, with the old tags back on Homer, and this is the routine we follow, day in and day out - find Homer without collar, look for collar, put collar back on.

Sidenote: The new twenty dollar blue collar (including identification tags) has never been found . . .

How Walking in the Woods is like Writing a Manuscript

Sometimes Starting a New Manuscript is like taking a Walk in the Woods. You find a new path that looks interesting, and you boldly begin.

But before too long, you find your self trapped in dense plot problems which you didn't anticipate,

so you take some time and think things over.

After you get a better perspective on your situation, you decide to have a little faith in yourself and just press on through, even if it means going blindly on, trusting the process, and forging your way through the undergrowth.

And when you get to the muddy middle, you wonder if you will ever find your way home, or if you should just give up on the whole idea entirely . . .

But because you have courage, and heart, you keep going that extra mile, even though the way is challenging and finally . . .

with any luck, you spot it. The way out of the forest. The path to the finish. The trail that leads you home.

And at this point you are very proud, because you did not give up, you found your way through the forest of your wildest doubts, the plot tangles in the middle of your manuscript, and you are indeed, Almost Home.

Good luck to all of you starting a new trail, muddling through the middle, or forging your way to the end - with thanks to my models: good dogs and pathfinders Homer and Penny.

Puppy Watch, Happy July, and Coming Attractions

Happy July Everyone! Hope you spend the weekend Reading, Writing, Riding, Barbecuing, Sailing, Skydiving, Biking, Hiking, or whatever else suits your fancy!

As for me - I'm on Puppy Watch.

Our new dog Penny had her spay surgery yesterday. We picked her up this morning with instructions to keep her calm and quiet for 10-14 days. Are you kidding me? This whirling dervish of a dog?

The veterinarians must have felt sorry for us because they sent us home with tranquilizers. Penny is an outside dog, constantly leaping, chewing, digging, biting, running, jumping, and wrestling with our old dog, Homer. I had envisioned simply separating the two dogs, and that Penny would lie down and nap. Ha!

Even after a tranquilizer, this little dog darts around like crazy, and so now she is locked in a big crate (I am not a fan of this, at all) while I take her out for frequent short walks on a leash or sit with her. *sigh*

Let's hope she heals quickly so we can return to some degree of normalcy, and she can go back to leaping, playing and being her youthful, exuberant self.

Meanwhile, some upcoming things to watch for -

A great interview with author Rosanne Parry, author of Heart of a Shepherd and her newest book Second Fiddle, with a giveaway of Second Fiddle. Coming up here on the Blog - Soon!

Summer Reading Giveaway over at Equestrian Ink (a blog of horsepeople/authors of which I am a member.) Every Saturday for awhile, we'll post a giveaway of one of our books, including one of mine, soon. Here's the link: http://equestrianink.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend! Find something good to READ! And wish me luck keeping Penny calm and quiet!

Vintage Dog Books - or how I picked our new pup.

After we got our new puppy a few days ago, I started wracking my brain about who she looked like. Some character in a book I read - but what book?



I mean, besides letting us cart home armloads of books from the library, my mother read us lots and lots of books, over and over, while I was growing up. And I'm living proof that it's the way to make a reader. (Thank you, Mom.)

But there were So Many Books, and I kept thinking of a dog I'd seen, like our new pup - Penny. I mean, there must have been some subliminal reason why I brought home such a muttly little black dog. She reminded me of a dog I'd read about.

Was it this one? No . . .

This one? No, I think the dog wore a hat, but . . .

it wasn't this one. In frustration, I called Mom, who still has cartons of well-used and dog-eared (haha - get it?) books that we pawed through as kids.

"Mom," I said. "It was something to do with a fire house."

She dug through the boxes, and found this one -

But no, it wasn't exactly right. It was a Black Dog. And because I couldn't quit thinking of this One. Certain. Book. - I googled, and eventually found the right one.

It's about a black dog, a very famous dog that actually lived and performed heroic duties working at a fire house - and it's called:

Notice the resemblance? All she needs is a fireman's hat and she could be -

Penny, the Fire-Engine Dog.

What vintage dog books do you remember?

What Was I Thinking?

Remember we were looking for a companion for our wonderful dog Homer? I blogged about it right here.

After bringing one dog home that didn't fit in (it chased my cats terribly) we decided that with personal and professional obligations, maybe we should just forget adding another animal to the family right now. Especially a dog because, ya know, they're a lot of work.

But then I came across this little black dog that someone had just found and almost hit in the road. They wanted to find it a good home, so I went to look . . .

and of course it was adorable, and a female (which we wanted) and . . .


very playful.

And Homer seems to like her.

And she's smart, and she listens, and even my husband thinks she's cool (yay!)

He named her Penny.

But I woke up this morning, and I knew I'd let my heart do the talking, and just like that song by Dierks Bentley, I wondered "What was I thinking?"

Because Penny was smelly, and full of fleas, and of indeterminable breed, heritage, or history.

So . . . today she had a bath . . .

And a 7-way vaccination, and a she has a new red collar.

She looks better, don't you think? I guess we'll keep her.

So my question to you is: What combination of breeds do you think Penny is?

Must Love Cats

We've been thinking for awhile of getting another dog. As I've blogged about before, we currently have the Best Dog Ever - a lab mix named Homer.

But the truth is, Homer is lonely. Oh, he won't say it in so many words. But as an outside dog, he spends his days looking in the window or waiting at the door for someone to come out and spend time with him. And although we do play with him every day, when I'm at the computer for hours writing, Homer spends a lot of time at the window. Waiting.

But it's hard to find another Good Dog. We don't want a puppy, and I'd never get a dog from a breeder, because there are too many wonderful dogs waiting at the animal shelter that need to be rescued. Still, we have a lot of qualifications for a new dog, and we're picky. Here's what we're looking for:

1) Must Love Cats. Have you read Kathi Appelt's wonderful book called The Underneath? One of the characters is a hound dog named Ranger, who adores and protects cats and kittens. Our dog Homer is like this (all of our four cats LOVE him) and we need a dog who has been around cats and won't chase them.

2) Short hair, low maintenance, must live outside (except for brutal weather conditions when we do bring our animals inside.) Size - medium to medium-large.

3) Must be good with livestock, and not inclined to chase donkeys or horses. (For obvious reasons.)

4) Must be all around good natured, with no biting, fighting, or excessive barking.

5) Must stay home. We don't allow our dogs to wander, and we much prefer a dog who just likes to lie on the porch and sleep. *grin* A bit on the lazy side is just fine.

Yes, that's what we're looking for, and hopefully it's a dog that Homer will like and get along with. If the dog is still young enough and not too set in its ways, maybe it can learn from Homer how to be another Best. Dog. Ever.

I'll let you know how the search goes.

So tell me - do you have a good dog?

How did it end up coming to live with you?

Cone of Shame

You met our wonderful dog, Homer, in a recent post right here. A big yellow lab with a heart of gold that we rescued from a shelter.


Recently, Homer had a huge benign tumor removed, which required lots of stitches and a two week recovery period. After the anesthesia wore off, he came home from the veterinarian wearing the dreaded Cone of Shame.


This is a plastic cone to keep him from bothering his fresh incision and possibly ripping out his stitches. You can see how thrilled he is about it:





I felt plenty sorry for him, but understood why he needed to wear it. Shortly thereafter, one of my friends posted on facebook (Thank you, Tammy) about a soft cone that did the same thing. Calling around to several pet stores, I found one!


Homer still wasn't too excited about wearing it, but at least it's a bit more comfortable.


Especially when he lays his little head down to sleep.

The brand that we found is called The Comfy Cone, and I think you can purchase them online, also. If your pet ever needs to go through an ordeal like this, I thought you might like to know about this option.

Homer got his stitches out two days ago, and he's feeling like a young pup again, thank you.

Has your pet ever worn the Cone of Shame?

Did you know about this softer option?

Homer - Best Dog Ever

This is our dog Homer. I talk about donkeys, and horses, and cats on this blog, so I thought I'd show you a picture of Homer. As you can see, he likes snow.

In fact, he likes to do anything we like to do. If you say the word walk, you have to spell it W-A-L-K or else you'll have one hundred pounds of wagging monster dog knocking you over in excitement.

I got Homer from the animal shelter about six years ago. I saw his picture on their website at 3:30 PM on a Saturday. They closed at 4:00 PM. I jumped in my car and got there in 15 minutes, fell in love in 10 minutes, did paper work for another 5, and at 4:00 PM drove him home.

Rescuing a dog from an animal shelter is like taking a stranger into your home and hoping you get along. In Homer's case, I knew little about his history. He was a young full grown dog (lab mixed with golden retriever?) that had been found running loose for some time with another dog. The day after I brought him home, we cleared brush all day and hauled it into burn piles. Homer walked back and forth with us, back and forth, staying close to our side. By the end of the day we knew he wasn't going to leave. He was quite happy to find a home and people to love him.

Homer is not only loyal, he adores children and cats. Well, I should say that cats love Homer. They all rub against him (even the neighbor's cat) and our barn cat Lucy even sleeps with him at night.

Homer is starting to look a little older in this picture I snapped two days ago. He is probably around seven years old this year, and I'm reminded to spend time with my faithful friend while I still can.

And I'm reminding you, as a dog lover, that you can still enter the contest (until Feb 28, 2011) to win Bobbie Pyron's brand new dog book called A DOG'S WAY HOME. This is hands-down one of the best dog books I have ever read, and you will Love It!


How do you enter? Just go to my interview with author Bobbie Pyron below, or click here to get there, scroll to bottom and leave a comment about your favorite kind of dog, and you are entered to win. Simple. But hurry!


Oh, and my favorite breed of dog? Anything with a good personality, but I have to say that I Really. Love. Labs.

A Friend to Animals

I was going to write a post about our adorable kitten Fred, sometimes known as Fred the Bad Kitten, or Fred the Sweet Kitten, or Fred Get Out of the Sack of Ribbons, or Fred Get Away from the Christmas Tree Before You Knock it Over, and other such nick-names. We got our wonderful kitten Fred from the animal shelter about three months ago - and he has filled our home with love and laughter (mostly.)



But on the way home from town, with my last minute shopping accomplished, I thought of all the other animals up the shelter, and I swung into the grocery story one last time and bought a sack of cat food. I drove by the animal shelter to drop it off, and while I was there, I stroked the fur of a few lonely cats starved for attention.



Then I put a leash on a black lab, took it outside for a walk in the grey December chill, let it run free in the outside pen for a bit, gave it lots of love, and afterwards shut it away inside its concrete kennel.



I wanted to do so much more. I really don't want to spoil your Christmas by announcing the percentage of these animals who will never make it out of the shelters. But it's high.

But what if we all cared a little more? Made a donation to the Animal Shelter? Bought a sack of pet food and dropped it off at the nearest shelter, either before or after Christmas. Took one half hour of your day occasionally to walk a dog or pet a cooped-up cat. Spread the word to your friend or neighbor about the importance of getting their dog or their cat spayed/neutered.

Or maybe go down to that shelter and see if there isn't one of those animals that wants to come home with you this Christmas? Or for the New Year?

Be a Friend to Animals!

Fred, and his friends still left at the shelter, say

"Thank You Very Much!"

Dogs That Guide the Blind

Last weekend I toured the Oregon campus of Guide Dogs for the Blind. Here's the visitor center, which includes an auditorium where graduations (for people and dogs) are held. The first thing you notice is there are dogs everywhere. Here is a young yellow lab in training.

In the past, different breeds have been used in the program, including German Shepherds and even Poodles. Today, Guide Dogs for the Blind uses 80 percent labs, either black or yellow, with some Golden Retrievers or Lab/Golden crosses.

The graduation ceremony is very special. The dog has passed a special training program of several months, and the legally blind student has spent time living on campus in a dorm, getting acquainted with the dog, and learning how to care for and work with it as a partner in life. Here, on stage, the people who raised the dog as a pup have an opportunity to transfer it to its new owner. There is joy and pride and many tears all around.

Puppy raisers are a special breed themselves. Getting their new charges at 7-8 weeks, they lovingly raise them indoors, socializing them and getting them used to as many new situations as they can. At age 14-16 months, the dogs are returned to Guide Dogs for the Blind for advanced training. This entire program receives no government or federal subsidies, and is run solely on private donations with the help of many wonderful volunteers.

Here are some of kennels the dogs stay in while in training. Note the play equipment. Hey, even dogs need some time off. The lovely campus includes dorms for the recipients of the guide dogs, kitchens, a training area, and a state of the art veterinary hospital where the dogs receive the very best of care. They must learn to help a legally blind person negotiate city streets, getting on buses, going in and out of stores and climbing stairs and escalators, and even practice "intelligent disobedience" when they come upon a situation dangerous for their handler.

What? Why is there a cat on campus? Actually, there are two cats that live here. This one is Chester, and guess what his job is? Yes, of course, to acquaint the guide dogs with felines, which they certainly might encounter in their lives.

Not all dogs make it through the intense training. But these dogs are not called flunkies. Oh no. Here are a few dogs that didn't make it, and they are lovingly called "Career Changers." Some go on to become search and rescue dogs, or help people with autism or epilepsy. And some even retire as pets. Every single dog in the program is provided either a career or a loving home throughout its life.

There is a feeling of intense pride for those dogs that do make it through the rigorous training program and go on to become a Guide Dog for the Blind. This dog just graduated last Saturday, and went to live with his new owner. He almost looks as if he understands the enormous responsibility he's been given, doesn't he?

Here's the website for Guide Dogs for the Blind, if you'd like to know more: http://www.guidedogs.com/site/PageServer

Guide Dogs for the Blind has two campuses, in Oregon and in California. You can tour the campus and attend a graduation for free. (Click on the link above, and go to About, and then Campuses and Tours.) If you love animals, I highly recommend it.

Have you ever raised a guide dog pup? Think you could? What a wonderful gift to give someone.