feeling thankful, for love is being owned by a husky and the giving spirit

I don't often participate in group gift exchanges. Not because I don't believe in giving, but because I don't need any more junk from someone who only kinda knows me, and I don't really want to spend money on a bunch of crap for someone I barely know. So when Pamela from Something Wagging This Way Comes gave me the opportunity to participate in the Pet Blogger Gift Exchange and no material gifts were required, I had to check it out. 

Here's the deal: I signed up, and I got partnered up. Not with some secret-santa-gift-pressure-thing, but with a genuine blogger. Our only gift to each other is to get to know one another and each other's work and share what we like of each other, and it's all good. 

I am thrilled to be getting to know Love is Being Owned by a Husky. 

Although I haven't read all she has to offer, yet, Jenna, the author, has already taught me so much. 

She's all about love. Just pure love of her pets. Her glorious huskies. A cursory look at her blog made me realize that I need to do more love on mine. As a professional pet sitter, I see so much. There are the pets and the business of it all and the causes and the rescues...well...I love it all, but I don't think my blog is showing the love like I feel it. Looking at "Love is Being Owned by a Husky" inspires me to do more love.

Jenna and her huskies are just getting to know me and my blog, too. So here's something they (and you) may not know: My dog, N.A.S.H.A., a scraggly mixed terrier, has some serious husky ties, though you'd never know it and you might have to read about her to understand. 

So check out "Love is Being Owned by a Husky" and feel the love!

"dog-ma: the zen of slobber" should be your next read

When the weather turns cold, there is nothing more pleasurable than curling up by the fire with a good book. Make it a book about dogs, and I'm in heaven. Barbara Brunner's "Dog-ma: The Zen of Slobber" was my latest read, and it did not disappoint.

Brunner lets us know her dogs in true Larry McMurtry fashion, allowing her readers to know them and love them, no matter their antics, then making us feel her heart-wrenching pain as they inevitably leave her side. She paints an equally vivid picture of the settings in which her family has their adventures as she and her husband, Ray, move their pack from place to place. 

If you're a dog lover, you won't be able to put this one down. Be prepared to laugh and love with Brunner and her revolving door of canine family members. 

 


Barbara's vivid and dramatic stories, told with a wicked sense of humor, will make you laugh out loud. She definitely gets what living with rescued dogs (nine of them!) is all about. 

When Barbara meets her future husband, Ray, it is love-and dog-at first sight. Over the course of thirty-two years, seventeen relocations and nine dogs, their mutual love of dogs guides them on their unconventional path. The love that Barbara and Ray get in return is literally lifesaving, with one dog attacking a lethal intruder and another discovering Barbara’s cancer. Her own survival story underscores the story of how her dogs become survivors themselves. 

Each new dog adds its own dynamic to the family, sometimes upending it. From Turbo (whose Spock-like ears may have provided super powers), Barbara learns about the will to live; Lexington demonstrates incredible patience and an inexplicable love of golf; Madison teaches that laughter is truly the best medicine and that the whole “nine lives thing” is not reserved just for cats; Morgan should be sainted for tolerating Izzy, who is as cute as she is bad. Barbara is certain that somewhere in doggie heaven there is a poster that says “If you are sick, injured or in need of really expensive medical care, FIND THESE HUMANS!”

Throughout 2012 and 2013, Dog-Ma has been on the Bestseller lists of Kindle, Amazon and Goodreads as well as being named as a finalist in the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the animal/pet category and presented with a medal at the Harvard Club in New York City - May 2013.
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About the Author
Award Winning Author, Barbara Brunner grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania with her parents, sister and always a dog, or two or three. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from a small women's college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Meeting her husband in Washington, DC, they continued together on a journey as self-proclaimed dog addicts. In the ensuing years, she founded three successful businesses in the Pacific Northwest and is a prolific fundraiser for breast cancer research. She and her husband are retired and now reside in Southwest Florida with two dogs and copious amounts of dog fur. She is currently working on indulging her well known flip flop addiction.

 Barbara is available for book readings, autographing and speaking engagements and may be scheduled for your book or dog event. 
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Website, Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Goodreads 

      
"My inspiration for writing this book was driven by pure emotion and my desire to invite the reader to step into the journey of my utterly insane true-life stories."
– Barbara Boswell Brunner, Author, dog-ma



 Book Tour Dates


 I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are 100% my own.


wild big horn sheep sighting

This past holiday weekend, our family stayed with our long-time friends in La Quinta, California. They live on a golf course, which makes for lovely–albeit forbidden–walks along the course with majestic views. Just before we were ousted for carrying mimosas instead of golf clubs, we spotted some big horn sheep grazing on the golf course. When we spotted a whole herd of them navigating down the mountain, even the course marshall allowed us to stay to watch. It was that rare a sight!

BigHornGraze.jpg

If you look closely and ignore our shenanigans, you can see them coming down...

How lucky that we got to see such a rare sight!