Excerpts from a Dog’s Diary

6:00 am - At last! I Go Pee!
My favorite thing!
8:00 am - Dog food!
My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride!
My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park!
My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted!
My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch!
My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard!
My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail!
My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones!
My favorite thing!
6:00 pm - They’re home!
My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball!
My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people!
My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed!
My favorite thing!

A Poem for 2012

Make a list of things you love:
Swirling flowers curled into buds - about to bloom,
A friend’s gorgeous hair,
Your own soul on fire.

Let them reach in and lift
The pressing weariness of this world-
Releasing the false belief that
the tender infant that your life is
was ever meant to be a burden-

In this coming new year,
Open the tiny buds-
Watch them transfer their fragrant joy.
Brush one beautiful strand after another, and repeat:
Freedom is the open mouth of my life
and is everywhere shouting for more.

Like a moth, step into the fire of your own light
Waiting to burst into ancient and holy flames.
Like a prayer, ready to leave this world
More beautiful than when we came into it.

Tracey Schmidt

Sadie, my 15-year-old Asheville Shih Tzu life coach

"Ha-rrumph! (doggie-speak for huff, grunt, snort)... You, again!"...tiny Sadie seems to silently ‘bellow’ this every time I enter her home and approach with harness & leash. She does this with glance alone, since she barely hears, doesn't bark at all. Trademark under- bite, jutted upturned muzzle, stern 'pursed' lips, and blunt-cut ridge of fur 'eyebrows' framing huge clouded eyes do it all wordlessly: “Let's GO, Miss Jane!” Crossing the threshold, old Sadie morphs into soaring puppy... Flying over speed bumps, leaping up stairs and running when she could walk, Sadie hasn't a clue she should be more 'careful' pursuing her bliss! Purposeful prance, confident, bouncy and self-possessed... sniffing and sashaying like the tiny 'lion dog' she was bred to be, Sadie, with her sturdy body and strong muscular legs, is just starting to miss a step or 2. She resists any assistance or safety monitoring. Ya, she's my girl idol...as I sometimes toddle myself, approaching life and physicality with a tad too much caution, Sadie reminds me that playing with toys, sniffing life as it happens, raising my heart rate on a daily basis, sometimes with abandon (terror!), revives, nurtures, satisfies in unknowable ways. Now, all I need is a volunteer to come & take me on that lead, to remind me to

What this is!

Pet and house sitting in Asheville now for close to six years, I've decided to blog a little, sharing on pet-related topics in ways that are not always compatible with the type of postings done on Face Book. These might include: random, quick ponderings about the individual Asheville pets I care for; general observations I make while pet sitting in and around Asheville (pet-related or not); Asheville pet store and pet product recommendations …as well as the great Asheville pet owners I meet, store vendors who constantly enlighten me, and other pet care providers I encounter in the Asheville pet community, while doing my job. In the coming weeks and months I'd like to share AND hear from you about your Asheville dog love, and cat chat about all the mysteries of our feline companions. I'd love to hear all the funny stories from parrot and other bird lovers in Asheville. I aim to make this a small, more personal 'take' on my love affair with pets than is possible in many other venues. Please join me in sharing small tidbits about daily life with your pets, 'mundane' happenings with them and how they make you laugh or cry, details of your pet routines that enrich and define in very intimate ways that particular part of your life… photos, storytelling, funny stuff too 'small' to even mention to others… Be controversial! Let's see where this goes…