I am an "everything happens for a reason" person. But when I started to get sick this weekend, I wasn't thinking, "What's the reason behind this?" Instead, I was thinking, "Holy cow. I'm a week behind on emails. I have a mountain of work to do. I need to train with Lucas for our session on Monday. The house is a mess. Why, oh, why am I sick now?" The answer: All those reasons I panicked about.

Take the puppy on a play date with nine other dogs in a big open field with a few inches of snow. Allow the 10 dogs to play for 45 minutes. Take the puppy to the dog park. Allow the puppy to play with three other dogs for 30 minutes, followed by sprinting with him up and down the park after the rest of the dogs leave. Collapse in a heap because there's no way you can tire out your puppy

Today's post is part of a challenge issued by Amy at GoPetFriendly.com and Edie at WillMyDogHateMe.com. I'm so, so glad they thought this up because it was definitely time for me to step back and think about this blog, its purpose, and where it's going. So without further ado, away we go: 1. When did you begin your blog? Technically, I started it at the end of May 2009. However, a couple