Piss Off!

Those who work in the dog boarding industry become experts, aficionados as it were, of urine removal products. The formula must destroy both stains and stink. Nature’s Miracle, the most popular, used to be the go-to choice for the housekeeping staff at Little Pup Lodge. That was before we discovered The Equalizer. Though it’s name more befits one of Dirty Harry’s sidearms, it is the most effective pee-fighter we’ve found yet.
Get your flourocarbons now!

Dog Tired

There was a transition time when I started Little Pup Lodge but was still doing some private investigator work. As my business got busier, I let my former boss know that I was going to retire as a private dick to devote myself fulltime to the Lodge. Perhaps the envy and resentment had simmered in him for some time, but he couldn’t hold it back any longer. “I wish I could sit around and play with puppies all day long,” Greg said.

Hurricane Ed

Since doggie visits here are supposed to be like a combo of summer camp, visiting your favorite grandma and a Grateful Dead concert, guests at the Lodge enjoy quite a bit of leeway in behavioral guidelines. We expect our male (and sometimes female) guests to mark, so carpeting has been removed and Lysol purchased by the gallon. While they’re not allowed on the bed or sofa back home, the guilty pleasures of lounging on the coffee table and crawling under an electric blanket on the Cal King are to be savored here.

   Eddie would go.

Another Oldie But Goodie

Last week I wandered into the SPCA and let them know I was looking for a really old, unadoptable dog to adopt. Have I got the dog for you, says the director. Age? Somewhere between 90 and death, she says. Size? Less than five pounds sopping wet.
Grandpa? Really?

The C Word

Is there really any thing new to a say about cancer? Publishers certainly don't want any more heart rending/funny/graphic/irreverent memoirs about the Big C.  In just a few decades it has gone from illness that no one dare mention to one that no one can shut up about.
Kimberly & Lilly


We now suffer from cancer fatigue. At least, that is what Kimberly, my best friend of 30 years, thinks. I’m waiting for a flight to San Diego so I can assure her this is not true. Whenever you think you’re life sucks, a few highlights of Kimberly’s life: Raised by physically abusive alcoholics, raped at 25, diagnosed with melanoma at 35, lung cancer at 45. Against all odds, she’s still here five years later; wild, unbelievably profane and funnier than hell. And courageous. God she’s courageous. I know that’s a threadbare cliché­; “bravely battled cancer, et al,” but she is not the only cancer person I’ve known. Another acquaintance had breast cancer and I finally had to un-acquaint with her. There’s a difference between processing feelings and cementing yourself to the pity potty.

  The two best friends in Seattle

Say What?

A nice young lady visited Little Pup Lodge with her Coton de Tulear and mentioned more than once how valuable it was. Although she meant that breed of dog was viciously expensive to purchase, I could have pointed out that my Oliver was valuable, too. As in, I wouldn’t trade him for a million dollars.

  Coton de Tulears
 

The End of My Sabbatical

What did you miss during my sabbatical? Pumpkin finally got adopted, thank you Jesus, Mohammad & Buddha. That little round mound of sound was with us for almost a year, but it sometimes takes a long time to find the perfect Forever Family. And perfect they were. Two are retired and one works from home, so The Mighty Pumpkin Pie will never be alone. They already had two ancient, special-needs dogs and an older person that needs a fulltime lap-warmer.
The Mighty, Mighty Pie.

Big Ain't Small

An old friend called again this morning with questions about his recently adopted dog Freddy. Mark’s mother has Alzheimer’s so Mark, who lives with her, figured she could use a companion.

   Mark & Freddy (Freddy's the furry one)

What's The Story?

Lots of shelter dogs don’t have a backstory. Picked up as strays, their health issues, age and especially, personal history, is pretty much a blank slate. It’s left to the vets to fill in the first two categories and they tend to get it more or less right. But the dog's life, or at least life as we imagine it to have been, is filled in by the ones who adopt the little guys or gals.

   Sakura

Slow Down

Some weeks are very busy, and I’m in the middle of a furry hurricane. Dogs to my left, dogs to my right, dogs on top of me. It’s wonderful and so soul-satisfying. Then there other times, like this last week, when only one or two guests have checked into Little Pup Lodge.    Less cleanup, less barking, less pressure.


One of the gifts of growing older, if you’re lucky, is the ability to appreciate the moment for what it is.

Young v. Old

Licorice, the little black Chihuahua, came home with me again from the shelter for a sleepover. If I were in the market for a young, housebroken, lovable little girl, she’d be it. She’s sorta perfect. But, I don’t want perfect. I want far from perfect, in fact.

   Licorice

Babies R(n't) Us

I finally got up north to see a friend who had twins in July. I was prepared to hear her gush over the joys of new motherhood. But my friend told the truth. Of course she loved them; that’s a given. But motherhood? It left her dangerously exhausted, seriously bored and all too infrequently thrilled with her decision to have children. “You know why they make those little outfits so cute?” she asked. “It’s to remind you how adorable your babies are when you think you hate them.”