Creative Non-Fiction?

I always wear my life jacket on a boat. By the way, there aren't any sharks in Cayuga Lake, are there?

How do you write a nearly 300 page book about a dog’s adventures that no one was around to witness? Well, journalist Emma Pearse did it by creating extensive backstory and filling in the rest with speculation.

Her book, Sophie: The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog, tells the amazing story of an Australia cattle dog who went missing from the deck of her people’s boat off the coast of Queensland, Australia. After being given up for lost, Sophie was found alive and well nearly six months later on an island at least five nautical miles from where she went missing.

Half of Pearse’s book tries to recreate Sophie’s path after talking to island dwellers who spotted signs of her and guessing what her most likely path had been. But the first half of the book introduces us to the Griffith family and their relationship with Sophie.

Evolving Dog Owners

Some people are born loving animals. They “just know” how to view the world through a dog’s eyes. And others of us need to learn. The Griffiths needed some schooling.

The Griffiths believed that dogs belonged outdoors. They certainly didn’t travel with dogs. One gets the feeling that after bringing Sophie home from the pet store, they were surprised at how she became a real part of the family.

The Griffiths had loved all their dogs. But Sophie was the first dog who earned the right to sleep in the house. And she was the first dog they took on their boat.

I believe, however, that their belief that a “dog is just a dog” prevented them from finding Sophie sooner. And caused them incredible cognitive dissonance that resulted in terrible suffering.

Missing – Your Worst Nightmare

The Griffiths did not see Sophie go overboard. When they discovered she was missing, they immediately started circling the area and calling her name while realizing the dog could have hit her head going over the side or already have become a meal for one of the Coral Sea’s giant predators.

What they didn’t do was get on the radio to ask other boats in the area to be on the lookout. And they didn’t tell most of their friends what had happened.

My speculation is that they didn’t feel anyone else would understand their deep sorrow at losing Sophie. After all, she was just a dog. The Griffiths had fallen in love with Sophie. But they didn’t know enough “dog people” to realize that they weren’t alone. And that they could have gotten help searching for Sophie or even just comforting them for their loss.

For me, reading about the Griffith’s sense of shame and grief over losing Sophie while recognizing they could have gotten help was the saddest part of the book.

They were absolutely right that the odds of Sophie surviving miles from the nearest land in rough waters filled with sharks were slim. But they should never have had to face such a horrible event alone.

How Did It Turn Out?

You’ll have to visit my review at A Traveler’s Library to be filled in on Sophie’s adventures. Needless to say, I have no interest in writing about puppy snuff books so you can rest assured Sophie returned home with not a scratch on her. Her vet was quoted as saying, “Sophie hasn’t been castaway. She’s been on an island vacation.”

You may remember the press stories when Sophie was found. Many of them got out of hand with mistaken coverage reporting that Sophie survived island life by eating koala bears on a protected nature preserve. For you Americans, imagine if a pit bull was found devouring baby bald eagles while pooping on the flag and you have a taste of the furor that arose.

Final Words

Sophie is not the kind of book I usually enjoy. But I give nonfiction a little more slack than fiction. After all, even if I don’t enjoy the writing style, I’ll probably learn something. And I did.

I learned that

• I definitely want to explore the Australia coast,
• it’s not stupid that I make my dog wear a life jacket,
• and having the support of other people who love dogs makes nearly everything better.

Maybe you’ll learn something too.

I’m giving away my copy of Sophie: The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog to one lucky reader. Use the rafflecopter below to make your entry.

But first, take a peak at Sophie in this news report. See, she really is alive and well.

Disclosures: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. If you buy a copy of the book through the Amazon affiliate link above I’ll make a few cents which will go promptly to my web host so Something Wagging can remain live. Oh, and thank you.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

What's that over at the golf course?

Is that a golfing coyote?

That coyote has seen the back of us.

Lots of news to share. This looks like a job for the Puppy Express.

All kinds of cool stuff happening around Blogville. I keep telling myself I have to write a bunch of witty and wildly entertaining posts so I can append a notice to the bottom of each one.

Yeah, right. Just how cute do I think I can be? After all, I’m not a Golden Retriever.

The Cheering Section

• Koly’s and Kelly’s K9 Kamp is back! This is your chance to improve your fitness for the summer (and hopefully for life) by doing fun things with your dog.

Some of your favorite bloggers are participating and will be writing about their challenges. And the organizers of the whole thing, Peggy Frezon and Jodi Chick, have prizes to give away.

The challenges are fun and easy. No one will be climbing a mountain with a dog strapped to her back (they save that for Ultimate K9 Kamp and the dog is a Newfie). So what do you have to lose? Except maybe a few pounds? Join them today.

• Kristine, from Rescued Insanity, has signed up to run a 5K race this Sunday to support the Nova Scotia SPCA—the same Nova Scotia SPCA that united the amazing Team Shiva. Kristine recently injured her ankle but she’s hoping to run anyway. I’m sure she could use our support (if not our ankle wrap). Especially since Shiva will not be running in the race with her—something about how Shiva would just blow away the competition with her zoomies and make all the other runners give up.

Who could resist this face? What are you, a monster?

Kristine is more than halfway to making her fundraising goal but I’m sure she’d be happy if you could make even a small donation to this worthy cause. And I bet she wouldn’t turn down any encouragement that came her way if you want to leave a comment at her post, Running is Not for the Weak (Ankles).

Pet Travel Thursday

I’ll be reviewing Sophie: The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog at A Traveler’s Library this Thursday. How does a dog survive falling overboard in rough waters off the Australian coast filled with sharks and other predators? How does she live alone for more than five months without human help? Stop by to find out more.

I’ll post a review looking at the human/canine aspects of the story here at Something Wagging This Way Comes, also on Thursday. And you’ll have a chance to win your own copy of Sophie’s true story.

And Now for a Brief Educational Message

Just this morning I saw that Mel of No Dog About It had written a great post— Lost Dog “Experts,” Lay Off Will Ya? —cautioning us against rushing to judgment when we hear someone has lost a dog. But even more importantly, Mel included some really helpful advice for what you should do if you ever lose a dog. Worth reading. Worth sharing far and wide.

Doggy (and Kitty) Decorating Dilemmas

I’ve had a lot of fun reading the more than 50 responses to my survey about who decorates their home with pets in mind. I’ll be writing about the results soon. But the survey is available until Thursday. So if you haven’t answered yet, you can follow the link to the original post. Or you can go directly to the Polldaddy Surveys button (it’s red and orange) on our Facebook page.

It’s only 5 questions so you can finish it before the dog starts barking at you or the cat sits on your keyboard. Honest!

Join us at BlogPaws

I’m heading to Salt Lake City next month to speak about the blogging subject near and dear to my heart: Making Time to Blog. It’s not too late to register to join us. Contact me to receive a discount code worth 20% off the registration fee.

But BlogPaws also has an option for all you introverts who would no sooner travel to a conference full of strangers (of course they’re only strangers until their dogs lick you) than walk barefoot in a poorly maintained dog park. Yes, you guessed it. You can live stream or download some of the sessions that will be recorded—including my presentation with Robbi Hess.

So now, you have absolutely no excuse for not joining the fun. Plus, you can attend the workshops while sitting in your underwear, eating bon bons, and stroking your cat. What’s not to love?

Until Next Time

So much fun stuff happening in Blogville. Are you joining K9 Kamp? Or supporting a local cause? Hibernating? Do share. And come back for all the great fun coming up.

Disclosures: I swiped borrowed the picture of Shiva from Kristine Tonks. I hope she doesn’t mind. If she does, you’ll find a blank website after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police bash down my door for internet piracy.

The link to Sophie: The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog is an affiliate link to Amazon.com. That means that if you buy a copy through that link, I’ll earn a few pennies in commission and come half a step closer to paying for the site’s hosting fees. Thank you.

The Dog Who Thought Too Much

Every day I defy the stereotype of the dumb blonde. That's why I think so much.

You wouldn’t suppose a dog would over think things. At least I wouldn’t.

We’re often told a dog is similar in intelligence to a two-year-old child. Let’s face it. Toddlers are not known for pondering (click the link for Alexander Horowitz’s amusing comparison of her child and her dog).

Dogs are creatures of instinct. Their bodies follow their noses. And yet Honey is nearly as prone to over thinking as I am.

In our training sessions with Honey, she does a lot of thinking. When we’re shaping behavior with the clicker you can almost see the cogs turning in her fuzzy brain as she tries to figure out how to repeat the behavior that got her the last treat.

But she really “thinks” about how to avoid ending up in too scary a position. She’ll put two paws into the Doggy Ride bicycle cart and then contemplate how far she can stretch while keeping her rear paws safely outside the moving object. Or she’ll dance around while she’s figuring out if she really has to step on the teeter to get a treat.

Enjoy your Body; Forget to Think

Our trainer, Russ, has us working toward getting Honey to jump in one side of the bike cart and out the other. He wants her to learn that she won’t be confined and can make a choice about coming and going. So far, however, we haven’t been able to encourage this behavior. Russ came up with a game to move her in the right direction.

He pulled a roll of tape out of his bag which we set up as a “jump” in the doorway. He called to her on one side of the jump. At first, she hesitated at the three-inch-off-the-ground tape. You could see the brain working. But pretty soon she jumped over and got a treat. Before long we were taking turns calling her back and forth over the jump and giving her treats. Her brain turned off and her body led her over the jump, at varying heights, with no trouble.

Stop Thinking; Start Doing

I over think everything. At work, I’m asked to produce statistics for the past seven years and I come up with at least five different ways to report the numbers. At home, I spend so much time deciding whether to do one thing or another, I end up running out of time to do either. I’ve been known to miss many a deadline while figuring out whether to take advantage of an opportunity.

I’m known as a “thinky talky” person, not a woman of action.

Yesterday the brain kicked in. I could work on my BlogPaws presentation. I also need to format my book review to appear Thursday at A Traveler’s Library. Or I could clean the house and do laundry to prep for the work week.

If I get in, do you promise I'll get liverwurst?

Pretty soon it became obvious that if I didn’t decide soon the day would be gone and I would not have gotten anything done. So, without thinking too much about it, I decided we’d go kayaking with Honey.

It was time to get out of my head and into my body.

Muscle Memory

It felt good out on the water. I don’t have to think about how to steer around the fishing lines coming off the bank. I just use my paddle as a rudder and turn the boat in a new direction. I feel the choppier water where the creek empties out into the lake and I shift position to crest the small wavelets head on.

Honey, the girl who doesn’t like things feeling unsteady under her feet, entered a new place too.

Sniffffffff! Ooooh, I know. It's goose poop.

She placed her paws where she needed to feel steady in the rocking boat. Then she lifted her nose to the air and experienced all the scents we don’t normally get on a walk around the neighborhood—goose poop, baby ducks, barbecue from the park, dead fish—and all kinds of other smells I couldn’t begin to imagine.

It did both of us a lot of good to be out on the water on a beautiful, spring day. But it did us even more good to just move. And to not think.

Look, Mom, I made it myself!

Hop on…

But I’ve been very rocked by the recent death of Maurice Sendak. Why?

I liked his books when I was a child but they weren’t my favorites. I tended to like older books with beautiful illustrations, like Robert McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings.

But as an adult I learned more about Sendak. I became fascinated with the man whose life was so strongly shaped by dark and horrifying events but who somehow managed to transform his experiences into something very powerful through art.

If you’re curious and want to know more, I strongly recommend you listen to this series of interviews he did with Terry Gross of National Public Radio’s Fresh Air program. I guarantee you’ll be very moved.

Why does any of this belong on a dog blog?

I found this video. The dogs in the room respond to the Wild Things saying goodbye to Max on the television screen. I can relate.

Goodbye Maurice, goodbye.

[Photo by Kate Hiscock.]

Doesn't everyone buy furniture to match the dog?

My sister recently bought an innovative carpet because I told her how perfect it was for a house with pets. It got me thinking. How do other people balance having a nice house and pets? Or have they given up?

I’m dying to know what you think. Take a brief (5 question) survey by clicking the link below. I’ll share the results in a future post.

And to get a nice sampling, please share this post with your friends. You can use the Facebook and Twitter buttons below or share it on your favorite sites.

What's this "weave" you keep talking about? Maybe I'd know what you were talking about if someone else did it first.

The other day I took Honey to the playground to train with the equipment. We practiced going over the suspension bridge, under the low platforms, and up the goofy, alternating staircase. After a few minutes I saw her ears perk up as she did a little dance. She had spotted a friend.

A large Border Collie was peering at us through the bushes with a frisbee in his mouth. His presence brought the fun back into the work we were doing.

Honey the Extrovert

I wasn’t surprised that seeing another dog would cause this reaction. One thing Honey and I have in common is that we’re both extroverts. We get our energy from being around others.

Of course we went over to say hello.

After a few quick sniffs, the Border Collie made it clear he was ready to catch the frisbee again. But he didn’t mind a bit if Honey wanted to tag along. So for the next few minutes, the dog’s person threw the frisbee in all directions while Honey raced alongside almost as if she was cheering her friend on. She never once went for the frisbee herself.

Every once in a while she’d zoom over to the man to get lovies as well. Honey is an all-species extrovert.

Walking with Kitty

Sometimes on our walks we encounter a black cat who lives the next block over. As soon as the cat sees us, she’ll cross the street to join us. Honey and the cat will say their hellos.

Honey has learned that even friendly kitties don’t appreciate play bows and dancing on the end of the leash. So Honey and the cat will gently touch noses, have a little sniff, and the cat will follow along on our walk for a few blocks.

Eventually, the cat will go off in another direction—usually while Honey is busy sniffing. Once Honey notices the cat is gone, she insists we retrace her steps to follow the cat’s scent. She misses her friend.

Honey has learned that even something as much fun as going for a walk is even better when you can do it with a friend.

An Extrovert at Work

Many people misunderstand what it means to be an extrovert. Being extroverted doesn’t mean that I never want to be alone. Or that I’m never awkward at parties where I don’t know many people.

It does mean that I get my energy from being around others.

Most weeks of the year I teach classes for first time home buyers. Classes start at 6:30 p.m. after I’ve already put in a full day’s work processing loans, going to meetings, and counseling clients one-on-one.

Sometimes I’m utterly dragging by the time 6:30 rolls around and I can’t imagine how I’m ever going to get through the next couple of hours. But the first student walks in the door and something switches on inside me. I become lively and entertaining (at least according to 7 years of class evaluations) and pour everything I have into teaching the best class I can.

This extroversion gene, or whatever it is, is so powerful that I once taught a class with a migraine that I forgot I had—until the last person left after asking questions and I promptly threw up in the bathroom.

Blogging as an Extrovert

Pay attention to me, little guy, and you'll know how to tug like a pro.

I write a lot. I have for years. I have dozens of journals tucked away in a closet. For over a year, I was regularly posting to two blogs as well as writing occasional guest posts for others.

But writing is a very solitary pursuit. I’ve always looked for ways to make it more social.

I used to lead writing workshops in which I would give prompts to the participants who would write and then share about the experience or read what they had written.

And an important part of blogging is reading comments left on my posts and visiting other bloggers to comment on their sites. When I go through a stretch where I’m unable to read and comment on other blogs, I feel a strong sense of loss. Yes, it’s more than just guilt.

But I also feel a strong urge to meet, in person, the people I become friends with online.

Don’t worry. My lack of confidence and fear of being arrested for stalking prevents me from acting on those urges. So don’t expect I’ll just show up at your door one day. (Yeah, I heard that “psheww” of relief that echoed around the blogosphere.)

BlogPaws – Answer for Extroverted Blogging

The social side of my personality took me to BlogPaws last year in Virginia. Heck, if the only thing I had gotten out of attending was knowing the real identity of the clever, funny, and mysterious Pup Fan, it would have been worth it.

But I learned a lot and got to meet other wonderful bloggers. Among the most memorable were Elizabeth and her Cardigans Dewi and Jon Farleigh (yes, they have just as much personality in real life as Elizabeth conveys in her blog) and Sharon of Grouchy Puppy fame who brought a “virtual” representation of lovely senior dog, Cleo.

BlogPaws 2011 was held in Virginia and, as expected, attended mostly by bloggers from the Eastern United States. In 2012, it will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah. So, in hopes of meeting more bloggers from the Western regions, I decided to attend.

Luckily, I was selected as a speaker and will be presenting with Robbi Hess. My topic? Finding Time to Blog. It was the big glaring hole in the presentation topics at BlogPaws and the one I was most interested in attending. It’s a matter of presenting the topic you most need to attend.
I’m really excited about presenting. It’s only occurring to me now how much I enjoy it and how I should make it a cornerstone of my professional life. And it balances the extroverted side of my personality with the introverted act of writing.

Working With Our Tendencies

I’m famous for always picking the hard way to do things. I have math anxiety and yet work with financial math every day and even teach it. I want to travel so I’ve decided to learn to sail instead of just buying a plane ticket.

Look! Synchronized scratchies! We're ready for the Olympics.

But everything shouldn’t be hard. Sometimes we just need to go with our natures and not fight so hard.

For me, I can’t continue to blog unless I nurture the community that is so important to me. And for Honey, we need to mix social activities into the middle of our training/desensitization work together.

Maybe it’s time to ask my neighbors if I can start teaching their Golden Retriever, Riley, how to ride in a bicycle cart. After all, learning is always more fun with a friend, when you’re an extrovert.

[I'll be posting more about BlogPaws soon. I can also provide a code for 20% off the conference registration fee. Contact me for more information.]

A smart dog trainer is an idea person.

I don't know why you felt the need to trade this in for a bike and cart. I can stretch out much better in here.

I’m not bad with the basics. I’ve taught Honey to walk nicely on leash, wait for me at crosswalks, come when I call her, and lie down nicely on the rug while I’m cooking dinner.

But when I read about Shiva learning to do handstands or 80-pound Hurley learning to stand in a box, I don’t know where to begin.  How do you get a dog to do something he wouldn’t expect to do on his own in a given day?

That’s where the creative trainer comes in.

Stretching Honey

We’ve been working for a long time to see if we can get Honey to ride comfortably in the Doggy Ride bicycle cart.

At the same time, we’d like to know if she could ever be comfortable with us on a sailboat. Can she walk a ramp from a dock to a moving boat? Feel comfortable when a boat shifts under a person’s weight? Will she tolerate the noise and motion of high winds causing sails, lines, and hardware to move and clank?

We’ve been getting help from a local trainer to teach us how to work with Honey and to help us evaluate if our goals for her are even possible. And it’s been so helpful.

But this past session, our trainer, Russ, suggested something that caused a real breakthrough for Honey.

If I stretch any more, people are going to think I'm a Corgi or a Basset Hound.

We’ve been rewarding Honey for putting her head into the Doggy Ride bicycle cart. Gradually, she’s worked up to putting her front two paws into the cart and streeeetttttcccccching her body to take a treat from my hand at the front of the cart. Her rear paws are firmly anchored on the ground outside the cart and they’re not going anywhere. If the floor is slippery, she’ll scramble with her back paws to keep them from going into the cart even as she’s pursuing the treat in my hand.

If you want to know what this look likes, imagine an American tourist discovering her first “squatty potty” in a moment of desperate need while balancing a long skirt, two shopping bags, and a huge purse. It’s pretty awkward looking.

We’re also working to get her to walk on a small teeter board that barely teeters at all. Russ suggested we place obstacles on each side of the teeter so Honey has to approach from the front and can step on with both paws. No doing. She’d put her two front paws tentatively on the board but will not walk on with her back paws even though her weight is already holding the board down.

When I asked Russ if there was some way we could make her separately aware of her back paws from her front, he came up with a deceptively simple but very effective idea.

Back Paw Awareness

Russ moved a floor mat into the middle of the room. Honey walked over it periodically trying to figure out what would get her a treat. Each time her front paws were off the rug and her back paws were on them, Russ would click and treat.

It was a slow process. Honey didn’t understand what we expected of her. But eventually her brain figured it out and she’d walk over the rug and pause with her front paws on the wood floor and her back paws on the carpet.

We continued working with the rug the next day. And, after a few repetitions, I moved the rug onto the teeter board. The teeter board she had never touched with her rear paws. The teeter board I could not get her to walk forward onto after her front two paws touched it.

Honey stepped onto the rug onto the teeter board. Then she moved forward until her back paws were also on the rug. And then she moved forward again so her front paws were free of the rug but her back paws remained on it.

Success!

Progress Isn’t Linear

When I go downstairs to work with Honey again, we may not duplicate yesterday’s success. She might look like she needs to start all over again.

But that’s ok. She’s done it once. She’ll do it again.

Honey looks bolder and more confident around the crazy equipment in the house. But most of all, she looks more and more like she’s starting to have fun. And that’s a beautiful sight to see. No matter where her paws are.