The Last Goodbye for a Good Girl

The last time I saw my brother’s dog — 14.5 years old, scruffy fur, splayed hips, milky eyes — I cupped her muzzle in my hand and told her she was a Good Girl. I had a feeling it might be the last time I would scratch her head. She stared into my eyes. Wrigley […]

The Lexicography of Skunks

It was such a nice night. September in the low mountains is lovely — hot by mid-afternoon, cool enough for a sweater by sundown — and it’s the best time of year to sit outside after dinner. We were enjoying the peace of the late-summer forest. And then the skunk came. The dog was in […]

I Am the Eggdog

This time last year Elise and I were bellied up to a bar (remember those?) in Montana, talking about what childless dog-owning couples generally talk about: our pet. We’d owned Kit — or had she owned us? — for a year and change at that point, and we’d taught her the basics: to sit, to […]

How To Win Friends And Influence People, According to My Dog

It’s my dog’s birthday today, so re-sharing this post from the winter felt appropriate. Also I am on deadline. Last fall, when I was deeply in need of a warm, distracting project, I got a puppy. She is very cute, extremely soft, and really annoying. She enjoys chewing everything, but she especially loves my shoelaces […]

It’s Getting Hot in Herre*

A few nights ago, my golden retriever puppy did a weird thing on the kitchen chair. I was standing at the counter island, where I always stand, and my daughter was in her chair across from me. Sunshine tried to climb on the chair next to my daughter, but then she kind of stopped halfway. […]

Redux: A Vocabulary for the Almost-Lost

My dog died this week. It was entirely without warning; she was fine Saturday and on Sunday she collapsed, and then she was gone. I am shattered. I am in a state of constant saudade, a Portuguese word meaning the feeling of longing for something or someone you love that has been lost forever. I […]

The Joyful Communal Companions of Chile

I believe in a heaven for all dogdom where my dog waits for my arrival waving his fan-like tail in friendship. ~ Pablo Neruda When you land in Chile, the first thing you notice is the color of the sky. An easier thing to describe is the second thing you notice: The dogs. The country […]