the lesley osborn blog

Arwen joined our family in 2023 when Gala (my senior Galgo Espagnol) was the only dog here. They both used our large, six-foot chain-link fenced yard for exercise. No walks required. After Gala passed on, this yard was too large for Arwen, plus the deck and ramp off the kitchen were going to be replaced.  Weather eventually takes its toll on wood. There was a small yard here when Mom and I purchased this home, but we never used it. It has a three-foot chain link fence. It's been mowed, and Arwen now has another opportunity to explore the outdoors besides our walks. It's taken her time and patience to adjust to something new.  Years back, this yard was a vegetable garden planted with loving care by my mom. Yesterday, during our time in this yard, I found myself sharing the following story with Arwen... "This yard had corn and other vegetables planted. My mom waited patiently, watching for the corn silks to emerge through binoculars from our porch. Once they were visible, sh...

Red was a ten-year-old smooth-coated standard-size red Dachshund. He was offered for free to a good home on Craigslist, of all places. Now I already had several Dachshunds in my family, so why on earth would I even entertain another? This was circa 1980s. There wasn’t the overcrowded shelter situation that exists today, either. But here I was, scrolling through a local newspaper in the canine-advertisement section (anyone remember newspapers?). There wasn’t a photo included, and he wasn’t far from me. I called the number listed, scheduled an appointment with the woman who placed his ad, and went to meet him. I drove into the neighborhood, searching for the address, and parked in front of a two-story townhouse. There stood a woman far younger than me at the top of the stairs with Red by her side. Yep, he was red in color and a standard-size Dachshund, but my immediate observation was the length of his ears. Doxies have long ears, but here was Red with the shortest ears I’ve ever s...

After Hannah joined our family (she was our first treeing walker coonhound), it didn't take my mom very long to say… “Someday, I'd like to add another to our family.” A few months later, at seven AM, I walked into her room. My mom was sound asleep. “Mom, there's an ad for a free litter of treeing walker coonhound pups on Craigslist.” (Of all the places to look, that was me back in 2007.) As she regained consciousness (she hadn’t had her morning coffee yet), the following words flew out of her mouth...“I said Someday , not Sunday .” Oh, did I forget to mention that it was indeed a Sunday? Read on... Before my mother could say another word, there I was with the photos tucked behind my back. If you know me, I believe in being prepared, you know, just in case! One included Sari with her litter of ten-week-old pups still trying to nurse. She was thin and didn't have enough milk to continue being the sole source of nourishment for her babies. Pups should slowly be t...

My mom was a Pet Nutrition Specialist for the Nutro Company for seventeen years. During a scheduled demo, the Humane Society had an adoption event. I was at home on this Saturday. She called, saying, "Whatever you're doing, stop and drive down here." There was a year-old treeing walker coonhound with a name tag “Puzzle” hanging on her crate. Her head was lying in an empty water bowl. To make a long story short, we adopted her that day, and home she came. The information we had was that she was heartworm negative and spayed. She didn't respond to that name, and we renamed her Hannah: one of grace. For those who love words, notice that Hannah reads the same in reverse. All of the canines who join our family have a vet visit as soon as possible. Hannah tested negative for heartworm. She was retested six months later, and the result was positive. She was successfully treated. Hannah had the sweetest disposition, but she was far from healthy. She developed a ...