Conversations with Raika is now available!

  Self-centered, manipulative, irritable, opinionated …is it possible to fall in love with a dog who possesses most of the worst qualities of humanity, and rather few of the best? I want to talk about me. Specifically, I want to talk about my Hanukkah wish list. Yes, Hanukkah. It appears that the gifts start earlier and last longer than for Christmas, so I’m signing up for that program this year. Admittedly, Hanukkah is almost over, but I’m thinking we could split the difference and start today – sort of a hybrid holiday celebration. We can call this “Chrismakkah.” The story of Raika begins several years after she retired from a noteworthy career in the world of competitive dog sports. Now that Raika and her owner no longer spent hours a week training, playing and traveling, she was left with relatively little to do. As a result, her life transitioned from one of working to one of eating, and eat Raika did! Unfortunately, all of that eating led to a serious weight problem, and she w