Huh?
July 25, 2009
My dear old friend, Thea, was listening to me talk about Beef Casserole for the Dog’s Soul when she asked me the question that a lot of people have asked. Huh? You’ve written stories to read to a dog? Uh, how d’that happen?
OK, here’s the thing. Some years ago I was hanging out with my first Malamute bud, Boo, when I found myself making up a story I thought he would like to hear that involved a lot of food and the other things he especially loved; playing with other dogs, a big ole dog fight at a feast, him the winner etc etc.
This was a bit of a private joke at first. I was giggling as I was thinking of what sort of things he would like in a story. Entertaining myself really. Then I realised that he was actually taking it all in, clearly not the literary details *lol* but certainly loving me talking to him at great length and being happy.
I did this a few times, making up different stories to tell him, sort of experimenting. All unprintable. One day it occurred to me that maybe other dogs would enjoy – probably already enjoyed – someone telling them a story. So, feeling somewhat silly but driven by a feeling of ‘rightness’ I began to write an actual story for a person, man, woman, child, kennel maid, vet nurse and so on, to read to a dog.
Suddenly, all these dogs would appear in my mind with their own particular names and stories. It was exactly like when I’d written my two novels – the characters stepped forward, introduced themselves and began their own story. So it was with these dogs, like Jed the collie farm dog and Gemma the sad dog – they all exist to me. Yes, I know it might sound odd.
And don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking my stories for dogs up in any kind of literary way! The main point is that the stories are fun, not least by being read aloud to a dog by a person who is seeing things through the eyes of a person imagining through a dog’s eyes, ears and nose, what kind of story a dog would like! Ahem.
No, you are quite right. I did not give this long-winded explanation when Thea asked me!
Feedback
July 24, 2009
We love getting your feedback! And we like to play and we’re real good at sharing too. So I’m proud to share some of the first feedback we’ve received about Beef Casserole for the Dog’s Soul:
“I bought your book for my friend who is mad about her dog. I am not a dog person and don’t really get it. But I know her dog is really important to her. When I saw Beef Casserole for the Dog’s Soul on Twitter I figured it would be a great gift for a dog owner like her.
“It was really cool when I gave the book to her because I was sort of saying that while I still don’t get her relationship with her dog, I wanted to acknowledge and honor it. I’ll get back to you when she fesses up about reading to her dog. She has a mutt called Bradley if that means anything. Thanks!” – Jacqueline, Scotland
Board
July 20, 2009
How do you make sure that when you drop your dog off at doggy day care or a boarding kennel they are boarded and not bored?
Here’s an idea. Take along a copy of Beef Casserole for the Dog’s Soul so your professional dog person can sit with your dog and read them a story. Yeah, let them have some of that lovin.
Seriously, what a great part of your dog’s daily routine at the boarding kennel or doggy day care while you’re away! Breakfast, walk, rest, listen to a story and have special time with someone, play with the other dogs, rest, have another walk, play, dinner, sleep.
Dogs mental stimulation and emotional wellbeing are always a concern of people who run good boarding kennels and doggy day care centers. Offering a reading a story extra activity would be a wonderful idea, don’tyathink? Woof woof!
Fred
July 16, 2009
Fred & Sean. Freddy the 13 year old Dachshund has a story read to him for the very first time by his person Sean, Scotland.
What about you? Send us pics of your dog listening to a Beef Casserole for the Dog’s Soul story: petalove@bibliopet.com
Parent
July 15, 2009
Do you consider yourself a dog owner, a dog person or a dog parent (pal, servant, toy, companion…)? Perhaps it doesn’t matter much what you label yourself but then these labels tend to indicate an attitude towards your dog.
I was never comfortable with the idea of being a dog owner. (So in our stories there is no reference to being an ‘owner’ or a dog being ‘owned’.) I think the whole dog ‘owner’ thing has historically come from legal and local authority issues, as in who is responsible for the dog’s behavior.
Recently I’ve been noticing more and more people talking about being a dog ‘parent’ or parenting your dog. When I first saw this term I thought, huh? Isn’t that a bit schmaltzy? But immediately I realized that pretty much all good ‘dog owners’ are good ‘dog parents’.
A dog is parented when they are shown how to behave, when responsiblity for their behavior rests with the person the dog lives with and when they are a valued member of the family. Unless they are a working dog they don’t work for a living so need to be supported by someone. So, to me, the parenting idea is appropriate for all kinds of positive outcomes.
Being a dog parent has nothing whatever to do with perceiving a dog to be a child. No. Thinking of yourself as a dog parent does not mean you think of dogs as children. But it does mean you take the time to raise a good canine citizen and a happy, well-adjusted dog who in turn brings you a great deal of joy and much more besides.
In our family we also have Nana Vanda who is human grandmother to many dogs but unrelated to any of us humans. So in this all this thinking about parenting a dog it occurred to me that in the same way that parents read to their children to share an experience of something gentle and connected – not to necessarily ‘educate’ them – as dog parents we can feel completely at ease reading to our dog.
Are you a dog parent or grandparent?
post script 28.07.09:
The other day at the local library a book practically jumped off its shelf and into my arms. It’s wonderfully titled, “Making Animals Happy, How to create the best life for pets and other animals” and it’s written by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson. Obviously, I borrowed it.
I haven’t started it yet but looked what I noticed in my quick skim – I’m quoting directly from the book, page 33:
“Dogs need parents, not pack leaders
What dogs probably need isn’t a substitute pack leader but a substitute parent. I say that because genetically dogs are juvenile wolves and young wolves live with their parents and siblings.”
Really looking forward to reading this book.
Woo-hoo!
July 4, 2009
Hold the front page! It’s the Fourth of July and we have some fireworks going off here (metaphorically-speaking what with the canine and feline fraternity ‘n’all) because ta-ra! we managed to release Beef Casserole for the Dog’s Soul TODAY!
It’s a beautiful thing to tie-in with such an auspicious day of celebration – a day which is also an important family birthday so very meaningful for us here at Bibliopet.
The Dog was bathed, the sun came out, we managed to proof-read and make corrections, realised we haven’t sent out a single press release nor nothing … but look what we got now! Happy new kinda birthday to us! Woo-hoo!
We managed to take a photo (above) of his lordship Bubba being read a story in the fabulous new format of our actual BOOK by Mistress Peta. Stop laughing! No, do laugh because it is FUN and fun is good.
