AuthorMomWithDogs

Calling all Programmers

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Karen

I know, I know, a job posting on my blog?! I’m just casting my net as wide as I can. Read on and see if you’re the one or you know someone who is. Thanks in advance.

Calling all programmers expert in algorithms!

Looking for someone expert in algorithms to help me program a version of Google (only half kidding… : ) for job hunters and kids just starting out trying to figure out career directions. I’m looking into creating a career aptitude and job matching site that would be able to filter personality test results through career requirements in a new and progressive way. Yes, I know there are a ton of these kinds of sites already, but not in the way I want to do it. I’d be happy to explain further by email to see if it would be worth your time to meet.

In my mentoring work, a perennial problem not only for teens and twenties, but for all ages now, is “What/who do I want to do/be when I grow up?” With the “new world economy,” this is only going to intensify as more industries continue to be outsourced and jobs in this country continue to disappear. So, while there are many sites geared to helping one answer these kinds of questions, I haven’t found one that would work as extensively and “intuitively” as the site I’d like to create.

A very simple example: starting at age 14, every time there has been a “career day” at school, my daughter comes home in tears because she feels the school is pressuring her to know what college AND career she would be selecting! Aside from the insanity of that, what confounds my daughter is that she has seemingly opposite strengths and interests. She can’t imagine how she can find a career that would speak to both her need to use her interest in science and her love of acting. As is common for most people of most ages, she feels she has to choose one direction or the other. When I suggested that she could easily combine those interests and more into one career, she couldn’t imagine how until I suggested becoming a meteorologist, or working for National Geographic, or filming her own scientific documentaries, or… Anyway, you see where I’m going.

What current psychological testing and existing web sites don’t do well enough in my opinion is to ask enough of the right kinds of questions to be able to collect and then synthesize important information, including information that may be contradictory. And they don’t have an extensive enough data base of possible career/job suggestions to offer the kinds of mixing/matching that people need today.

So even though sites like careerplanner.com are impressive as far as they go, I believe if this whole concept were somehow able to be taken to the next level, then instead of just suggesting several rather generic careers based on standard psychological and aptitude tests, a site could be created where, yes, based on some standard testing, but more based on a new way of asking questions, you could be matched with a rich selection of truly tailored options.

What I’m thinking I want to do is to start with a list of extensive, straight-forward “modern day” questions that would decipher needs, interests, likes and dislikes, contradictions, etc. — unlike tests like Meyers-Briggs which speak primarily to conditioned patterns of behavior, and therefore make them only partially useful for this type of application. (Actually the whole testing field needs to be seriously overhauled and updated, but that’s another matter.) The answers to these questions would essentially become one set of keywords. Another database would have information on what I would like to be the largest list of current “new world” career/job descriptions in existence. These job descriptions would be coded with another set of keywords. Then I’d like to gather data on what traits people have who are successful and happy in these jobs, and, conversely, people who are miserable in these jobs. These would be additional sets of keywords. Then, like Google, based on percentage of specific keywords, a list of best-fitting careers with description and analysis would be generated.

I’d write the questions that would speak to today’s kids in particular. Keywords from the answers would be pulled based on my “rules” for pattern matching.

If you are a whiz at algorithms or you now someone who is, please contact me.

For my regular readers, next week we’ll be returning to our regularly scheduled programming. : )

Posted in Life | 2 Comments

Want to Talk with the Best Dog Book Authors — Join DogRead

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Karen

Even though my dogs are well trained, and I’m fairly comfortable with my dog rearing skills, there’s always more to learn and I like to stay on top of the latest thinking and exploration. I’m lucky enough to have direct access to the top dog trainers and researchers in the world. Yes, in the world! I can ask the greatest dog minds any question I can think of.

But it’s not because I’m special. Anyone can participate in this unparalleled FREE learning experience. If you have a dog (or even if you’re thinking about getting a dog) and are interested in communicating and learning from the best, all you have to do to join the party is to sign up for DogRead, an online dog book club where authors join readers in an Interactive Workshop format featuring a new dog-related book each month. Once you join, you will also have access to archives of all the books ever discussed. Talk about an incredible resource!

For sure, DogRead is a place where you’ll find lots of good people and great conversations. You can even look up my stint as a guest author in the archives. (Yep, that’s how I found out about this great place.) So, if you don’t already belong, I hope I’ll get to see you over there!

Posted in Dog Training, Dogs in General | Leave a comment

Peel Head of Garlic in 10 Seconds

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Karen

You guys know I love my garlic. I love growing it. I love giving it as gifts. I love cooking with it.

But I don’t love peeling it. Like onions, peeling garlic presents its own challenges. No, it won’t make you cry, but it will eat the skin off your fingertips if you try to peel more than a few cloves by hand.

I can’t tell you how many gadgets I’ve bought over the years that claim to peel and mince garlic in one step. I’ve always gone back to doing it by hand. Until now. See for yourself. You won’t believe your eyes. Better yet, try it for yourself and be amazed! I was.

Posted in My Garden / Recipes | Leave a comment

Is My Aussie Pup’s Energy Level Normal?

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Karen

From the Mailbag: Stacie writes: My daughter brought home a 2 month old Aussie pup. I had never had one or didn’t know anything about the breed. I have 2 dogs that got along great and just need affection and some backyard time and they are fine. I have some major medical challenges and am trying to make this work with the new pup. He ,as everyone says is super smart but I’m just not sure I can provide what he needs in energy. We are working with a trainer and he knows tons of stuff. But his energy is killing me! I can only walk him every other day for about 20 mins. I try to play with him in the back yard but he will only chase a ball a couple times or I play soccer and he will only do that for a bit too. I know he is young and we already love each other but my question is will his energy likely be controllable? Can I make it work with backyard time and games or will he and I be unhappy? He is in a pen most of the day per the trainer because he is so out of control if he’s out. He has toys all over the floor but only chews on furniture, me, and rugs. He bites my legs constantly even though I doing everything the trainer says! It would kill me to give him up, is this just a typical puppy stage for the Aussie. I have had other puppies and they were not like him. I don’t want him to be unhappy if I can’t give him what he needs:( What do you think??? Thanks very much!!!! Stacie

Stacie, first, let me say that all of the behavior you are describing is pretty normal for an under-exercised Aussie pup. My sympathies :) Having a working dog like an Australian Shepherd is like having a Ferarri. Sounds like fun in theory, but hard to handle in reality. So, yes, you’ve got a really high performance machine that’s easy to spin out of control if he’s not handled properly.

I have a few suggestions that may help make your situation more workable:

First: Keeping an Australian Shepherd puppy penned for long periods is not going to help your situation in the long run. I’m not sure why the trainer recommended this for most of the day. Aussies need exercise, they need to use their minds, and they need to be with their people in order not to become neurotic and/or destructive. I recommend you get in touch with your local chapter of the Australian Shepherd Club of America ASAP and find out who they recommend for training. You really need to be working with a trainer who specializes in herding dogs.

Second: Do you know if your daughter got your Aussie from a breeder? If so, that breeder will be a great resource for you. First question I would ask (if there is a breeder to ask) is how their dogs age — do they mellow, do they stay really active? Most dogs do calm down as they grow into themselves but that can take a couple of years. If you don’t know where your puppy came from, then I wouldn’t assume that he’s going to mellow that much. A little bit, for sure, as he grows from puppy to adolescent to adult. But Aussies are typically high energy dogs.

Third: With your medical issues, you may be facing a tough decision in figuring out what’s best for both of you. It sounds as though you are trying to do the best you can, given your circumstances. And if it’s not working, as hard as it may be to face that, perhaps the best thing you can do is to try to find the right home to help this puppy achieve his full potential. If this puppy came by way of breeder rather than pet store, then the breeder should be happy to take your puppy back. If not, again, please get in touch with your local chapter of the Australian Shepherd Club of America and ask them to help you find a good home. Please don’t let this dog go to just anyone. This is how so many Aussies wind up in shelters or in Rescue–because people like the way they look and don’t know enough about the breed to make a good choice. Then when they realize they got way more than they bargained for, they look for somewhere to dump their dogs.

And finally: If you absolutely feel you can’t part with him, then I would suggest that you try to find a find a 4-H kid who would be interested in training your dog for agility. As your puppy gets past one year, you could find a jogger to take him as a running buddy. Essentially, there are lots of people who love dogs who can’t have one, who would be delighted to help you out. Ask trainers, vets, 4-H groups, girl scouts, boy scouts, running groups, etc. if they know anyone. Preferably you want to get someone to volunteer who has experience with Australian Shepherds. I’m sure with a little looking, you can find someone who will be able to pitch in.

My last suggestion is that you act quickly to either find another trainer experienced with Aussies, and then find people willing to keep him active, or you bite the bullet and make the hard decision to let him go with the help of someone from the Australian Shepherd Club to find him a good home. Your pup is at a critical age in his development and without the proper guidance now, he could wind up being a handful permanently.

If you can’t find the right help, while it’s never easy to give away an animal that we’ve come to love, without enough space for him to run around, and you not physically able to manage him, neither one of you will be happy. So forget guilt, and you make the decision that works for where you are in your life now.

Good luck and keep me posted.
Karen

Posted in Dog Training, Dogs in General, The Mail Bag | Leave a comment

A Light Show to Beat All Light Shows

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Karen

Space.com senior writer Mike Wall reports that particles ejected by recent solar storms are due to slam into Earth over the next few days, possibly causing super-charged northern lights displays and temporary radio blackouts in some areas, experts say.

Geomagnetic storms can also trigger dramatic aurora displays, which are also known as the northern and southern lights. So skywatchers at higher latitudes may want to look up after sunset over the next few days.

You know I’ll be outside looking up!

In case you are not far enough north to be lucky enough to catch the aurora borealis, here is a different but no less amazing display of light to help start your New Year off on the right foot. : )

[Best viewed full-screen.]

Okay, and I’m throwing this one in because it is just so darn cute!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Posted in Life, Nature | 1 Comment

My Holiday Wish

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Karen

May you be lucky enough
to share the most excellent company with someone
who watches over you, keeps you safe,
and makes you laugh everyday.

Australian Shepherd

May you never know the loneliness of being without a dog’s love.

Posted in .My Dogs and Me | 4 Comments

Dog Writers’ Oscars — The 2011 DWAA Awards

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Karen

I’ve just received the happy news that my blog post, What You Can Do to Avoid Getting Bitten By a Dog —10 Common Mistakes People Make Greeting Dogs is in the running for a prestigious DWAA (Dog Writers Association of America) Award.

The last time I had the honor of being in the running was back in 2007, when my book Dogs of Dreamtime was a finalist in the general book category. It lost to a book about the Search and Rescue dogs that worked at the Twin Towers on 9/11 entitled Dog Heroes of September 11th by Nona Kilgore Bauer.

For those of us who write about dogs, being selected as a finalist by the DWAA is our equivalent of being nominated for an Oscar. Same idea of being recognized by our peers in a big way. The competition in my category is pretty stiff again this year, so while I’ll keep my fingers crossed, I won’t be holding my breath. : ) Award night is in February. Wish me luck!

Posted in Dogs in General, On Writing | 7 Comments

How to Safely Greet a Fearful or Anxious Dog

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Karen

I have a lovely neighbor down the road who just got a 2-yo Dachshund from Rescue. It’s her first dog since she’s been a child and she couldn’t be more excited or in love with this lucky dog. And… she’s a little out of practice on how she needs to be introducing her new family member to strangers. Especially, since this dog is prone to fear aggression.

So when we met on the road and she asked me to say hello to Pixie, it gave me the opening to ask if she’d mind if I helped her work with Pixie. She was very appreciative of the offer, adding that most of the neighbors didn’t want to take the time to help Pixie get better at greeting people. I couldn’t blame those neighbors. Most of them don’t have dogs, and certainly not dogs who are lunging, barking, and snapping at them as they come near.

Having rescued and trained some very difficult dogs in my day, my heart went out to Shelly because I knew she wanted to do right by her dog, but didn’t know how to set up both her dog and the people she might greet for success.

First, let me point out a few common mistakes Shelly made in how she let Pixie “say hello.”

1. Shelly spoke in a high pitched, excited voice while pulling back on the leash, telling Pixie what a good dog she was. Shelly believed she was just reassuring Pixie that everything was all right. In fact, she was inadvertently reinforcing exactly the behavior she was trying to stop. From Pixie’s perspective, she hears her owner use an encouraging voice telling Pixie that it’s good to pull on the leash, and bark like crazy anytime strangers approach.

2. Shelly then asked if Pixie could come greet me while Pixie was still in an aroused state. Before I could answer, she pulled Pixie right up to me, even though Pixie was making it clear that she wasn’t comfortable approaching. It was only because I’d known to stand sideways, relaxed and quiet, avert my gaze and not try to reach to pet Pixie, that I avoided getting bitten. As it was, Pixie did grab on to my pant leg, but quickly let go when I continued to be non-reactive. From Pixie’s perspective, she’s being held back, held back, held back, and then suddenly pulled toward someone. The message she’s being given is “my space is being invaded, and my person is rushing me so I must defend both of us.”

3. Shelly ignored or didn’t see that Pixie had nipped at me, and asked me to kneel down and extend my hand so Pixie could greet me. Because “if she can just say hello, then she’ll calm down.” Instead, I suggested that I just stand and calmly talk with Shelly while Pixie was allowed to sniff my legs. From Pixie’s perspective, if I had knelt down and leaned over to pet, she would have interpreted that as an aggressive gesture and I would have been most likely bitten for my efforts.

Here are the steps we took to get Pixie calm, comfortable, and happy to know me in less than 5 minutes:

I did not rush up to greet Pixie. Instead, I told Shelly to keep her at a comfortable distance, where Pixie could stop lunging, if not completely stop barking. I stood sideways to be perceived as less of a threat, and tossed treats on the ground for Pixie to take or not take.
Never looking directly at Pixie, I’d throw a treat and as soon as she took it I’d say in a calm, unhurried and quiet voice, “Good girl, Pixie.” Throw treat. Repeat. Always making sure that Pixie was not barking or lunging at the moment I praised her.
Once Pixie’s arousal had reduced to where her curiosity took over and she wanted to come sniff me, I instructed Shelly not to pull on the leash or talk in a high pitched voice, but rather continue a normal conversation with me. Once Pixie could see that Shelly was relaxed, it helped Pixie relax.
When Pixie sniffed, I did not reach down to pet her. But I did keep tossing treats at my feet and anytime I saw her relaxed, I quietly praised her.
Once she routinely started looking to me for more treats with her tail wagging, I knelt down with my face looking the other way and let her start taking treats from my hand.
Then I slowly stood and repeated steps 1-5 a few more times until Pixie was running up to greet me with tail wagging and happy eyes shining. Only at that point, did I reach my hand to pet the side of her neck.

Essentially all I did was let Pixie tell me when she felt safe enough to move to the next step. By letting her feel in control of when she was approached, and only speaking to her and rewarding her for calm behavior, in just a few minutes I was her new best friend.

If you ever have the opportunity and time to help a new dog owner socialize their dog, I hope that now armed with the proper and safe way to greet, you’ll be happy to help out.

Here’s a quick review of proper dog greeting etiquette.

Thanks to Lili Chin for the illustrations.

Posted in Dog Training, Dogs in General | Leave a comment

Sticky Paws Tape — Cat Clawing Deterent

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Karen

I love our cat, Finn. But I hate what Mr. Destructo does to our furniture. I could open a cat store with all the cat scratching posts, etc, that have stood idly by while he mangles my furniture.

I thought I’d found the winner when I’d discovered Feliway. And I must say that actually worked for several months. But I’ve had to move on to more serious deterrents. This double-sided tape sold by Stick Paws works great!

Posted in Finnegan the Coon Cat | Leave a comment

Here In This House

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Karen

Though this poem was written with a dog in mind, I believe it speaks to the care we owe all living beings. In this season of thanks-giving, I am thankful for all the four-footeds who bring me so much joy “here in this house” of mine.

Wishing you and yours peace and blessings this Thanksgiving.

Here in this house…
I will never know the loneliness I hear in the barks of the other dogs ‘out there’.
I can sleep soundly, assured that when I wake my world will not have changed.
I will not have to suffer hunger, or the fear of not knowing if I’ll eat.
I will not shiver in the cold, or grow stressed from the heat.
My fur will shine, and never be dirty or matted.

Here in this house…
There will be an effort to communicate with me on my level.
I will be talked to and, even if I don’t understand,
I can enjoy the warmth of the words.
I will be given a name so that I may know who I am among many.
My name will be used in joy, and I will love the sound of it!

Here in this house…
I will never be a substitute for anything I am not.
I will not be used to improve peoples’ images of themselves.
I will be loved because I am who I am, not someone’s idea of who I should be.
I will never suffer for someone’s anger, impatience, or stupidity.
I will be taught all the things I need to know to be loved by all.
If I do not learn my lessons well, they will look to my teacher for blame.

Here in this house…
I can trust arms that hold, hands that touch…
knowing that, no matter what they do, they do it for the good of me.
If I am ill, I will be doctored. If scared, I will be calmed. If sad, I will be cheered.
I will never be cast out because I am too old, too ill, too unruly, or not cute enough.
My life will be treasured rather than treated as an afterthought.
I will learn that humans can be as kind and as fair as dogs.

Here in this house…

I will be loved.
I will belong.
I will be home.

author unknown (– though a safe bet he or she is someone who does rescue work.)

Posted in Dogs in General, Life | Leave a comment

Home Again, Home Again…

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Karen

Thank you to all the wonderful French families who so generously took our kids into your homes. It was a gift for them to get to experience your wonderful country through your eyes. I know one girl who won’t soon forget!

Posted in .Cait and Me | 5 Comments

Ticks, Ticks, and More Ticks

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Karen

The life cycle of ticks. Source: CDC

From the mail bag: Deb asks, do you have any advice as to whether or not one should treat their dog with antibiotics if they find a tick on them? I found a tick on my GSD. He was treated with, I believe, doxycycline last year after I found six deer ticks on him. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Deb, the down and dirty answer is: While it’s not uncommon for a physician to prescribe a dose of doxycycline for a human bitten by a deer tick as a preventative, I don’t know of any vet who recommends that protocol for dogs. Your best bet is to take the tick to your vet to have it tested for Lyme.

Yes everyone, it’s that lovely time of year again when black-legged ticks AKA deer ticks make another big hurrah (springtime is the other time of year when they proliferate — though they can be active all year round). The nymphal stage of this tick is active during the late spring and summer, which makes them harder to see because they’re so small. In the northeast US, the adult stage ticks become abundant early in October, and they’ll stay active through the winter as long as the temperatures are above freezing and the ground isn’t frozen or covered by snow. Which means you should be checking yourself as well as your dog daily. And if you let your dog sleep on your bed, check that nightly as well.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind about deer ticks and Lyme disease. You can only get Lyme disease if you’re bitten by a tick that is a carrier of the disease-causing microbe. Black-legged (deer) ticks are the most common type of tick transmitting the Lyme disease bacterium from host to host. In most places in the northeast (where I live) as many as 20% of deer tick nymphs and 50% of adult females are infected. If you or your dog are bitten by a tick, remove it right away and identify it. Again, you can have it tested for infection to better assess your risk. Deer ticks attached for less than 24 hrs are not likely to have transmitted any infection.

My guys and I spend a lot of time outdoors so inevitably the dogs end up with ticks. I get them titered at least once a year, and twice a year if it’s a really bad tick year (which this year is). You don’t mention whether you use Frontline or a tick repellent. I have been using a combination of the rose geranium oil and neem oil sprayed on the dogs and it has helped quite a bit. But I have to spray it on every time we go for a walk.

For more information about my protocols you can read this article, and also don’t forget to check out the links on Lyme in my sidebar.

Posted in .My Dogs and Me, Dogs in General, The Mail Bag | Leave a comment

Dogs Have a Universal Language. Why Don’t Humans?

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Karen

Cait is going on a foreign exchange program soon. We’re in the countdown to liftoff, with its attendant flurry of activity. That means that along with going over packing checklists, we’re running through cultural and language checklists as well.

Having lived in other countries, I’m keenly aware of the fact that because all humans essentially look the same–two eyes, two ears, a mouth, etc–we tend to make assumptions that people everywhere else are pretty much like us. And therefore we can mostly accurately interpret all other people’s actions and behavior through our own cultural lens. Sometimes that can cause some funny and not so funny misunderstandings.

I can say from firsthand experience that, while some would argue that the world has gone flat and homogeneity is the new norm, there are still plenty of differences that set each culture apart. Interestingly, one of the experiences that tipped me off to this fact happened before I even had a chance to set foot outside the US.

In having had the opportunity to study three languages from two language families, I found that learning about the differences in sentence structure and grammatical gender, for instance, gave me an interesting glimpse into different thought structures which, I came to believe, reflected certain cultural views and behaviors.

After an afternoon of intense language review and cultural differences of which Cait needed to be mindful, all three dogs came over to let us know it was time for their run out in the big field. Looking at their clear behavior and communication, her response was, “Mom, dogs speak “dog” the same way pretty much everywhere in the world. Dogs act “dog” the same way everywhere in the world. Why do humans have to complicate everything so much? I think the world would be a better place if we were more like them.”

I think she might be on to something there…

If you’ve had the chance to travel or live elsewhere, what have been some of the cultural differences you’ve noticed?

[I'd like to give a shout out to Meredith for helping with Cait's cultural tutelage.]

Posted in .Cait and Me, Dogs in General | 6 Comments

Chaos Math, Implicate Order, and Driving Lessons

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Karen

Cait is of the age where it’s time for me to teach her how to drive. For as exhilarating as she finds her lessons, that’s how nerve-racking I find them. So when we get in the car for another lesson, I take comfort in the way she falls back into our usual “long drives” routine.

She starts with her customary opening line, “So what should we talk about, Mom?”

As Cait has a tendency to drive a little too close to the shoulder of the road, I say, “We should talk about how you should stop listing to the right and stay in the center of your lane!”

Cait makes the correction and says, “So Mom, me and my friends were talking about what would happen if someone really developed a time machine and went back in time.”

“What do you think would happen?” I ask, not unhappy for a diversion to help keep my heart out of my throat and in my chest.

“I think it would be a disaster,” Cait says. “It would change history and mess everything up.”

“Yes, that’s one train of thought,” I say.

On the lookout for a road less traveled, I tell her to take a right up ahead.

Cait slows to a jerky stop, puts on her blinker and then turns. “What do you think?”

“I wouldn’t be too terribly concerned about it,” I say.

“Why not?” Cait says, looking over at me.

“First, please keep your eyes on the road. Second, there are two reasons actually. Implicate order and chaos math,” I say.

“And… that means what exactly?” Cait asks.

We’d been driving around on back roads long enough for Cait to start morphing into some semblance of a capable driver–enough so that I’m able to loosen my death grip on the door handle.

Warming up to the topic, I start explaining, “What science is discovering, and what many mystics have known for centuries, is that there’s an underlying equation that orders everything, whether we know all the pieces of what that equation are or not.

“In the enfolded or implicate order, space and time aren’t the key factors that decide whether something acts dependently or independently–like your time machine going backward or forward in time.Which means that a very different kind of connection is possible between time and space, and stuff made out of particles–like us.

“Bohm, the guy who developed this theory, thinks that the main thing about understanding order–especially the space/time/particle order–is that the undivided whole, and the implicate order contained within that whole carries way more deterministic weight than the parts of the whole, such as particles, quantum states, and stuff like that.

“In fact, in Bohm’s mind, the whole encompasses everything, including form, abstract ideas, and processes. What this means is that parts could be physical things, such as atoms or subatomic particles, but they could also be abstract things, like quantum states. But whether they’re physical or abstract doesn’t matter because the parts have to be considered in terms of the whole, and as such, they act as relatively autonomous and independent “sub-totalities”. Which means that nothing can be entirely separate or autonomous.”

Cait asks, “Is that what you think, Mom?”

“Yeah, as best as I can wrap my brain around it. Like Bohm, I believe that life and consciousness are enfolded deep within this order and are present in all matter, so that despite appearances nothing really happens in a random way, but rather creatively as integrated wholes from implicate levels of reality.”

Checking to see if Cait’s still with me, and she is, I continue, “And then if we wanted to make it even more interesting, we could toss into the mix a few deterministic systems of a little Chaos math, and we could say that if –and I know this is a big “if” but humor me–if the initial state of a system were known exactly, then the future state of such a system could be predicted.

“In other words, if someone went back in a time machine it would be because it had already existed in the implicate order. And therefore it was supposed to have happened. And therefore whatever “changes” came from that person going back in time were already accounted for and therefore wouldn’t really be changes at all. In short, it could only happen if it had already happened.”

“You know, Mom, I’m probably the only 16-year-old on the planet who could understand what you just said.”

“Yep, now if you could just find me a time-machine that would take us back to when you were five years old please…”

“Moooooom…”

“Okay, forget the time-machine. Just turn this puppy home so I can get out and kiss the ground. I’ve had enough excitement for today.”

Once home, I did sneak off and do the next best thing to a time-machine. I spent the afternoon looking through family photos.

Wistfully, all I can say to all you mamas out there–hug your babies tight. They do grow up so fast… Before you know it, you too will be slamming your foot on the invisible brake as you sit on the passenger side, while your child lurches on down the road to independence and adulthood.

Posted in .Cait and Me, Life | 4 Comments

Twelve

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Karen

Kiera is the first dog I’ve lived with that has made it to twelve years old. Knock on wood–she’s going strong. I tell her I just want her to make it until fourteen. (I secretly hope she’ll make it past that, but I’ll take whatever I can get.)

As she gets older, she continues to teach me a lot about the things that matter and the things that don’t.

When she was younger, she wasn’t allowed on the furniture. Now all I care about is that her old bones are comfortable.

When she was younger, I used to take her to be groomed twice a year to help me keep her coat under control. She’s always hated going, and would start shaking violently once we got there. I can’t image stressing her in that way anymore. I don’t care how her coat looks anymore. I do the best with keeping her brushed as I can. Now all I care about is that she feel’s safe and happy.

When she was younger, I used to make sure we’d get our walks in around town to help keep her socialized. She’s always hated having uninvited strangers coming up to try to pet her. Now the walks we take are around our fenced property where no one can bother her and she can walk by my side without a leash.

Because the list of “when she was younger” is long, the resulting awareness of appreciation for who she is and what she needs now is deep. That’s because I used to think I knew better, but now I know that she does. I’m finally old enough and wise enough now to really listen–to let her show me the way.

Happy Birthday my beloved. Hoping you have many more.

Posted in .My Dogs and Me | 5 Comments

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Author Mom with Dogs