Instructions on Life from a rescue named Maisie
Maisie is spinning around in circles, making guttural grunting noises and attacking her tail, hopping as she bites it. It really is a sight to behold, a tiny feat of coordination and insanity-inspired athleticism. I am watching her while I am warming my hands on a mug of freshly brewed Masala Chai tea, holding the …
It’s that time of year and they are everywhere: dogs wearing tacky Christmas sweaters and plaid flannel shirts; dogs dressed as chefs and posed in front of flour-dusted wooden cutting boards, their dog-shaped gingerbread cookies right there in front of them on the floor (how are they not eating them all??); dogs opening their Christmas …
It is a cloudless, wild-blue-yonder kind of day and the sunlight reflecting off the fresh snow is blindingly bright. But the dog park is empty, save for Maisie and me, and with a windchill of -5°, I guess I can understand why. January has arrived even though it is only mid-November. Even thought the first …
Maisie is having a particularly bad hair day. She is in desperate need of a haircut, something to which I hadn’t given much thought, mostly because I am thoroughly charmed by her shaggy, disheveled ears. Most mornings, she looks a bit like a washed-up starlet, lazily lifting her head without actually moving the rest of …
Maisie and her friend Lily both wear the same fantastic kohl eyeliner, dramatic and sweeping, dark and bold, like twin Egyptian princesses. We, their owners, wonder if they are somehow related because not only do they wear the same eyeliner, they are also about the same size, with similar coloring and markings. Lily is a rich …
It is midnight in late June, the rain and thunder and lightning relentless for the entire evening, but now there is a break in the action, a clear spot on the radar I have been checking a bit compulsively for the last hour, so I can find five storm-free minutes to take Maisie out for …
Barks at Strangers 