TURNING THE WILD ANIMALS LOOSE

We are having ten people for Thanksgiving dinner, a mix of family and new friends, and unfortunately my dogs are not quiet and relaxed when people arrive. Like many Dalmatians, they bark and bark and work up a storm around the visitors, acting like a bunch of wild animals. Everyone invited will be overwhelmed as…

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PUPPIES DESERVE MORE THAN GIFT WRAP

I continued my publicity tour for Bespotted last week and encountered a question I did not find surprising, but which was unanticipated nevertheless. ”After the re-release of 101 Dalmatians,” asked a member of the audience at a bookstore reading, “wasn’t there a run on the breed that resulted in nasty temperaments and a lot of…

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DOES MY DOG MISS ME WHEN I AM AWAY?

Who misses you when you are away? Sometimes your husband does–sometimes, even though it means an end to suppers built around potato chips and soda in front of the football game. How about your children, whose curfews are once again enforced and who will now be required to eat a substantial breakfast rather than a…

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HAVE YOU HUGGED YOURSELF TODAY?

Why would we hug ourselves? Is this an absurd idea? Maybe what I mean is something akin to, “have you received your hug today?” And if so, have you given someone else a hug today–all of which is just another way of saying, “have you taken care of yourself today?” One of the things researchers, animal…

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REMEMBER HEART DOGS YOU HAVE LOVED

How many of us have had what is called a “heart dog?” Tons of those reading this, I suspect. If you have finished, or are in the middle of, Bespotted, you will have discovered the inimitable Gulliver, to whom I dedicate the book as “dog of my heart,” which means the same thing. Some of…

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TODAY, CODY TAKES THE HELM OF “BESPOTTED!”

In today’s newsletter and also here on the blog, it is Cody who comes to greet our readers–wagging his tail until it is nothing but a blur, and grinning his crinkly Dalmatian smile. He is the first dog in our household, but not the last, who stayed on when he was not meant to. Born…

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MEET MAC! “BESPOTTED’S” COVER DOG!

As I promised you in my last newsletter, today you will meet one of my Dalmatians. I have chosen to tell you an anecdote about Mac, our youngest, as he is the “cover dog” for Bespotted. You can watch Mac as he grows up in the photos below this blog. Mac was born into a litter of…

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PRAISE FOR BESPOTTED

“Bespotted is a brave and wonderful book. The first chapter about the origin of the famous poem by Anne Sexton, “Live,” is precious both for the history it recounts with an authenticity nobody else could claim, as well as for its insight into one of the great poems of the language (hint: it is a poem made…

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