Bergie and her Brussels Sprout

October 27, 2014.Reading time 4 minutes.

(If you are a children’s book author looking for your next big idea, this post is my gift to you…) After seven months of searching, we FINALLY discovered Bergie’s treat of choice. Brussels Sprouts. I couldn’t make this up if I tried. Back when Bergie first came home with us, our trainer told us to […]

Get YOUR piece of the Bergie experience!

September 15, 2014.Reading time 3 minutes.

I’m starting a new business. THIS DOG sheds. Every other day I vacuum up the equivalent of a chubby maltese. Today as I hunted and gathered handful after handful of abandoned fur, I thought of all my friends who would just love to have a dog, but can’t. Then I had an Oprah-esque, a-hah! moment […]

THIS DOG…Not the Biggest Loser

July 2, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

Today was Bergie’s BIG day at the vet: her second weigh-in since she joined our family. As you may recall, she’s been on a slim-down regimen for the past three months, and we’ve noticed a small but exciting difference as her hip bones emerged from the flab. She’s still a full-figured pup, but we’ve been […]

Bergie gets trained! (And I did, too)

April 29, 2014.Reading time 6 minutes.

We had Bergie’s first training session last night! It was great, and she was most delighted by the sudden proliferation of liver treats in our living room. The trainer, Nayiri, gave us language lessons to help us communicate with our sweet pup, tips for new behaviors to replace things that we don’t like, and detailed […]

On adapting

April 7, 2014.Reading time 4 minutes.

So as you may have guessed from my prior posts, we are now in the process of training a dog. Which means to some extent, our dog is also training us. It’s a fun, and sometimes baffling process. Years ago, I read a book called “Second-hand Dog,” which made me realize that with any dog […]

A Genetic Puzzle (partly solved)

April 4, 2014.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Bergie had her first trip to our vet today. Here was our conversation: “Looks like she’s got some Great Pyrenees in her!” “Um, well…they told us she’s part foxhound.” “Yeah…Sometimes these things happen.” It makes sense, I guess. If you take one of these… and put it in a moment of romantic opportunity with one of […]

Bergie!

April 3, 2014.Reading time 5 minutes.

We have a new dog! Her name is Bergie (after Boston Bruins star Patrice Bergeron ). She is a delightful, enormous (85 lbs) bundle of fur and love and mellow happiness. And in keeping with the tradition carried by THAT DOG (may she rest in peace), Bergie is a complete genetic mystery. I’ve been goggling “dogs […]