First up: Thank you all for the encouragement on kicking the habit-which-shall-not-be-named. Next: Apologies for the rare lapse in my daily posting schedule and the tardiness of this Saturday entry...

...but I’ve been working. Mostly, anyway. Today, I spent 3.5 hours lecturing (again, sort of) on issues surrounding new graduate integration into the work force. It was really more like a...

I promised I would keep you updated on the reproductive antics of my goats and I don’t intend to disappoint. With this post, I offer you yet another voyeuristic glimpse into the sex life of our common agriculture species.

But this time it’s not all about speculums, pipettes, cold storage tanks and frozen sperm. Nope. This time, ladies and gentlemen, it’s about the birds and the bees and the...

Ever wonder what it is that goes on behind closed doors on your pet’s big day? After your pet is whisked away by the veterinary staff for hospitalization, surgery or a dentistry, what happens to her? If you’re the curious type, I’ll bet you’ve pondered this and more––as in, “Why can’t I stay with her? Why can’t I watch?”

Most veterinary hospitals have a policy about owners in “the back.”...

You’ve heard about the new blogger rules, right?

According to the Wall Street Journal...

“Under revised rules announced Monday, the FTC will require bloggers and celebrities to clearly state when they receive cash or "payment in kind" for endorsing a company's products or services.”

As a blogger, you might think I’d chafe at the concept of anything that restricts my current freedoms, but...

My email inbox always looks like a bomb went off in a pile of alphanumeric characters. (Incoming!) What’s worse, it’s clear that someone with the organizational proficiency (and taste) of a middle-schooler took to the “tag” button by way of adding a riot of pseudo-descriptive colors to the laundry list of lines.

It was amid this mess that I’d almost overlooked a crucial missive from a...

Although I worked a 14-hour ER shift last night––definitely not my normal gig––I actually feel pretty great this morning. Energized, even. This fact, along with a few great comments filed under yesterday’s entry, inspired me to put together this post on how to know if your animal ER offers what you need when things go all wrong with your pets in the off-hours.

Though I’ve always loved ER work...

Can you think of a scenario more nostalgic than one in which you’re forced to undertake a picture-by-picture, letter-by-letter purge of your personal life?

Long-departed pets shoulder their way back in, their images proliferating on your bedspread. Their old tags tinkle alongside Canine Good Citizen certificates as a ream of ancient adoption paperwork flutters to the floor.

Spring cleaning...

I’ve been having lots of fun this summer with my two dogs, my 11 year-old son and a Wednesday night “basic behavior and manners” training class at a local vet hospital (not mine). 

The trainer, one Dee Hoult, is smart, appropriate and positively inclined. I’ve learned new ways to teach the basics––without pulling or much correction at all. I don’t even think I’ve used the word “no” the entire...

The final installment in Sophie Sue’s saga. It was inevitable. She was euthanized last night at home atop her favorite pillow on my bed. She died peacefully.

“I didn’t mean to do it, Ma! He just followed me home. What else could I do?” 

Sorry excuses were on my lips one afternoon late last week as I attempted to hide the furball on my car’s floorboard when I stopped off at my parents’ house to pick up my male Frenchie from “day care.” But she’d already seen him. It was too late to avoid the icy stare and maternal recriminations. 

Leave it to my...