In autumn 2012 I had had such a bizarre and frustrating experience of dog ownership that I used National Novel Writing Month to draft a memoir of what I'd been through the previous year with a pitbull mix mutt named Ozzie. Since then my manuscript has evolved to...
Ozzie and Bob in 2012 (photo by me) Now the story of the dog my ex-husband and I owned together for 18 months before he (the ex) ended our marriage. When Bob and I first got Ozzie (Sept. 2011) he was about three years old and full of puppyish energy. One day Ozzie and...
FICTION Sunlight skipped off the surface of the lake and pierced the eyes of the dog owners and their charges. "Oh, Dan," said Imelda. "The new laws about dogs who attack people are so strict. Don't you think?" Dan turned away from his Great Dane, who was tentatively...
Ozzie, the only dog I ever owned. And ever will. Today is Mutt's Day and I acknowledge it even though I'm neither a dog owner nor a dog lover. It's been proven a few times that I'm not a dog person, but I still like dogs and celebrate Mutt's Day because I dislike the...
Her tail stayed down like that a LOT. Someone who has a successful little side job with a dogsitting service suggested I try it as a way to make some extra money. You go to the website, sign up as a pet sitter, set your nightly rate and wait for someone to ask you to...
I did it: I spent five hours on Sunday working on my dog ebook! It felt great. I once again plugged into memories, revelation and syntax, smoothing out the paragraphs and fleshing out details. I felt grateful that I didn't have children, pets or even a husband to...
The one-year-old who lives in the apartment below me is crying again. This happens regularly in the middle of the night, but I usually sleep through it. I only hear her when I happen to be awake, which is actually pretty often, as I rarely sleep through the night. I...
I agreed to get a dog in 2011 because my husband wanted one very badly, but now we're splitting up. Ozzie did make my husband very happy, but he didn't make me nearly as happy and mainly just added to my workload. I was okay with that while I believed that Ozzie was...
Original photo by Bob Martin, altered by me. I often consider the end of the human race (as I'm sure we all do). What would happen to the earth? What animals would care? Wouldn't all flora and fauna be immeasurably better off without us around to screw things up? But...
My Fellow Dog Owners (or "Doggie Moms" if you prefer, whatever) - Here's an impressive way to connect with your dog, whether or not you have actual issues with him/her. Emotional Freedom Technique uses the meridians and energy points of Chinese medicine to release...
Ozzie's a 50-pound pit bull mix with crazy ears. We've had Ozzie for a year and a half now and he's probably about 5 years old at this point (not sure because we got him from a shelter and they weren't sure of his age). For the first full year that we had him, I...
Fancy hotel room with dog Beautiful bathroom with oversized tub and Ozzie's dog dishes in the back. Monday, January 21, besides being Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Inauguration Day, was one of the coldest days of the year. In Chicago temperatures stayed in the...
The Black Dog by Regina Rodríguez-Martin I took this photo with my Macbook Pro. It's me with a black dog and another black dog ("black dog" is a metphor for depression). I felt very alone when I took this even though I wasn't quite alone.
The owner of the dog lay in bed until after 10:00 a.m. with the dog's body curled up next to hers in the blankets. After a brief phone call, she began to weep loudly. The dog, still in his relaxed position, pricked up his ears. At the first shriek, the dog's head...
Last Saturday at The Glenwood Bar, Santa took photos with dogs to benefit the local Paw-tawattomie Dog Park. I paid $10 for Ozzie’s picture and discovered that The Glenwood Bar allows dogs during the day, off leash and everything. After 8 p.m. it gets too crowded...